


Pas de Deux

by Twiggnberries



Category: Twisted (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Eventual Smut, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27975288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiggnberries/pseuds/Twiggnberries
Summary: A holiday Dacey story. Get cozy.
Relationships: Danny Desai/Lacey Porter/Archie Yates
Comments: 9
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

“We have to stop doing this.” Lacey said out loud hoping to convince herself as she hopped around, pulling her jeans back up her legs.

“Look, it’s working. I don’t see a problem—“ Archie rambled as he worked to re-tie his necktie.

“We’re not moving on.”

Archie smiled and walked over to scoop Lacey up into a hug from behind.

“We could always just get back together?”

“Hmm, no.”

Archie slid away from her, “What’s so different anyway? I mean we still work together, we’re still banging—“ 

“Nice.” Lacey rolled her eyes.

“What?”

“You haven’t given me what I’ve needed for years, Arch. I’m not going to explain what’s missing, that’s the whole point. You don’t get it.” Lacey muttered, suddenly feeling like pulling her boots on was physically the hardest thing she had ever done.

“Here we go.” Archie griped, fastening his Rolex around his wrist.

“I’m not here to fight. I’ll see you later, I’ve gotta run and grab Clara.”

“This was fun.” He tried to connect with her but she was already halfway out the door.

“Oh! Lacey! There you are, the client for five Park called again.”

“Thanks Whitney, can you text me the info? I’m leaving for the day.”

Lacey fled Archie’s real estate office, the one they had built together over the last three years. The one she had refused to walk away from six months ago when she decided she deserved much more than Archie knew how to give.

“Again?”

“Anyone call for me?” Archie completely ignored his intrusive receptionist.

“Archie—“

“Stay out of it and do your job.” 

******

“And she said my arabesques were clean, she’s never said that before!”

“You’re truly a prima ballerina, Clarebear.” Lacey smiled as they walked together toward Times Square.

“Miss Jana gave me something I’m supposed to give to my parents.” Clara said with measured gravity.

“Okay, well then that’s for me.” Lacey turned toward her little sister and squeezed her hand tighter, “I’ve got you, C.”

“I’ve got you too.” Clara said with so much maturity it made Lacey angry that Clara had to grow up so fast.

“Hey, you wanna go ice skating?” Lacey pointed to the outdoor rink in the center of the city.

Clara lit up and sped away, pulling Lacey along behind her.

“Slow down, butthead.” Lacey giggled.

The sisters laced up their rental skates and got to work. Ice skating was one thing they had always done together every winter. Something that bonded them and brought back good memories.

Clara had taken to ballet when she was three and her instructor had warned their parents not to let her ice skate for fear of injuring her golden feet. Lacey would sneak Clara into the rink with her and they would skate together anyway.

“Race?”

“No, there’s too many people. Show me your arabesque.” Lacey encouraged as she skated a wide circle around Clara.

Clara powered up and took off, completing perfect arabesques and earning a few compliments along the way. Lacey watched her talented sister, smiling as she did this one thing with the grace and confidence Lacey knew Clara lacked everywhere else in her life right now. 

“Oomph!” 

Clara had closed her eyes for a moment too long and smashed right into another skater and crashed to the ground.

“Shit!” 

Lacey zipped over as fast as she could, doing her best to weave through the other skaters without straight up pushing them all out of the way.

“Excuse-moi, Mademoiselle.” 

The man that Clara had bumped into extended his hand to help her up. Clara made no move to accept this stranger’s offer.

“Oh my god, are you okay?!” Lacey asked as she slid over to her sister, also knocking into the man, “Oh! Sorry, sorry—“

Lacey hadn’t been looking, one hundred percent focused on if her sister had injured herself. The man steadied Lacey on her feet after she had ricocheted off of him. She glanced over, her eyes growing in size at the man’s stunning features and sweet smile.

Lacey gave a polite nod and dragged her eyes over to her sister. She yanked Clara back up onto her feet and brushed her off.

“Are you hurt?” 

“I’m okay.” Clara leaned into her sister’s space, “He speaks French.” She whispered.

Lacey looked back at the man with the handsome dark features, “Is that right?”

“Oui.” The man smiled again and extended his hand, “Je m’appelle Danny. Commet t’appelles-tu?”

“Speaks French, but understands my question in English?” Lacey didn’t reach shake his hand.

“Busted.” Danny smiled bigger, “Those were literally all of the French words I know. Well, those plus where’s the bathroom—“

“Je m’appelle Clara.” Lacey’s sister shook Danny’s hand which was now resting at his side.

“Okay, well, thanks for letting my sister smash into you. You do realize you’re supposed to be skating here and not standing in the way like a tree?” Lacey rattled off.

“He was skating, Lacey.” Clara defended, “I closed my eyes.”

“Ah! Ton nom est Lacey.” Danny said softly, his eyes admiring hers.

“So you do know more words.” Lacey highlighted his lie.

“Do you skate here a lot?” Danny wasn’t sure how to proceed, but he desperately wanted to make this connection.

“No. Oh, you probably didn’t understand that, let me say it in English, no.”

“Aïe.” Danny held his chest as if she had just punched him.

“Au revoir.” Lacey took Clara’s hand and skated them away.

“He was being nice.” Clara objected when they got back to the skate rental shack.

“He was a stranger, you know the rules.”

“He wasn’t asking us to help him find his lost dog,” Clara squinted, “but he definitely looked like he could have had candy in his pockets I guess.”

“The rule is, you don’t talk to strangers.”

“I know, I don’t. You’re the one who started talking to him.”

“Touché. C’mon, let’s go home.”

******

“Clara-ohara-bear-a! Up top!”

“Hi.” Clara replied to Archie’s enthusiasm with flat nothing, tapping her palm to his gently.

“I made dinner—“ Archie thumbed behind him as Lacey unlocked her side of their shared duplex.

“What is it?” Clara asked.

“My famous spaghetti!” Archie said proudly.

“It’s always spaghetti.” Clara grumbled.

Lacey and Archie watched as Clara pushed past them and into the townhouse.

“She’s just—“

“No, she’s right, I should learn to make other stuff.”

“She’s missing mom.”

“I get it. What about you? Wine? Come over, please?”

“Not tonight.” Lacey kissed his cheek and disappeared inside.

“Goodnight.”

“Au revoir.” Lacey smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

“Maybe we can learn French together?” Clara wondered out loud after her bath, “It would help me with ballet.”

“That man—“

“Danny.”

“Right, Danny didn’t really know how to speak French.”

Clara shrugged, “Okay but I still want to learn.”

“Okay sister, I’ll look into it.”

“Thank you sister.”

Lacey sat on the floor of Clara’s bedroom and unloaded her backpack. 

“You didn’t eat your sandwich?”

“I ate Sophie’s, she had peanut butter and jelly.”

“You hate peanut butter and jelly—“

“Not the way her mom makes it!” Clara pushed back with a little too much pain, “Her mom cuts off the crusts and uses chunky peanut butter and raspberry jelly.” She burst into tears.

Lacey pulled Clara into her lap and the two of them cried together, another thing they shared. It had been an every day thing for a while, but this was the first time in a month that Clara had broken down.

“I miss her.” Clara sniffled into Lacey’s shoulder as she clung to her big sister so her whole world would stop spinning.

“Remember what mom said, we’re strong enough to get through this. We have each other and she wants us to remember the good times.”

Clara nodded, “I know. I’m trying, I just miss her today.”

“Me too.” Lacey admitted and squeezed her tight.

After a few minutes Lacey poked her sister in the side and proceeded to tickle her until she got her genuinely belly laughing. It wasn’t fair, but Lacey couldn’t stand to see Clara get so down.

“Hey!” Clara tapped out, still giggling.

“Hey yourself, if you get any snot on my favorite sweater I swear to god—“ Lacey giggled back.

“That’s your favorite sweater?” Clara roasted her sister.

“Wow, so you must enjoy tickle torture, huh?!” Lacey asked before another round.

“Okay, okay, I like your ugly sweater! Stop!”

Before Lacey tucked her sister into bed they went over the small amount of homework she had to do.

“What’s this?” Lacey asked as she pulled out a thick envelope.

“That’s from Miss Jana, the thing I’m supposed to give my parents.”

Clara snuggled further into her bed while Lacey pulled out the paperwork folded neatly inside.

“Oh my goodness.”

“What is it?” Clara wondered.

“You, my amazing sister, have been chosen for a four week program at the American Ballet Theatre.”

Clara shot up, “Wait, really?!”

“Only one person from your class can go and Miss Jana picked you!” Lacey beamed.

“That’s where Misty Copeland dances! Can I do it?!”

“Yes, definitely. You earned this, Clara! I’m so proud of you!”

Clara was absolutely sparkling and Lacey was so happy to see some glimmer of hope and genuine happiness fill her face. She was prepared to do anything to help her sister reach for every dream and make it to every goal possible. It’s what their mom would have done.

******

“I will meet them right after I drop Clara off.”

“Lacey we need to figure something else out, you’re missing too many appointments.” Archie complained.

“What about Rico? He’s ready—“

“Pshh, no. He can’t even tie his own shoes.”

“Give him—wait, what?”

“Seriously! Check out his feet the next time you see him.”

“I strongly doubt that Rico can’t tie his shoes, but even if he lacks fine motor skills, he talks a good game. He’s ready.” Lacey pushed.

Archie sighed, “Fine. I’ll give him a chance, but only because you’re the one giving him the recommendation. You’re my top agent and you’ve been the one training him. If you’re telling me he’s ready, I’ll send him. This is on you.”

Rico walked into Archie’s office and Lacey and Archie’s eyes both fell to Rico’s footwear. Velcro. Shit. Lacey glanced over at Archie, his eyebrows raised as he awaited her reaction.

“A-Am I i-interrupting something?” Rico fidgeted uncontrollably under their silent gaze.

“No Rico, have a seat.” Archie instructed before turning his full attention back to his ex girlfriend.

“Yes or no?” He asked again.

“No, no I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

******

“There’s no way I’m going to have time to get ready.” Clara worried as Lacey looked around for where they were supposed to be going.

“All the studio spaces look the same—“ Lacey flipped the paperwork around to try and make sense of the map.

The girls rounded the corner of the hallway and smashed right into someone coming around from the other direction. They all fell down to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Lacey tensed and watched her sister rub her elbow.

“I think so.”

“Well, if this is how we’re going to meet every time I’m going to have to invest in a helmet and some knee pads.”

Lacey looked up, surprised to see Danny now standing and scrambling to collect the items that had spilled from his bag when he had fallen.

Danny held his hand out and this time Lacey accepted. Danny pulled her off the ground, lifting her like she was as light as a feather. Clara stood and shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

“C’mon, Lace—“ Clara insisted impatiently.

“Do you work here?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Can you help us find studio number five?”

“Studio five?” Danny’s focus turned to Clara, “Are you starting in the youth company?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to you.” Clara answered, her frustration growing.

“Oh—“

“Please, we’re running late. She can’t be late.” Lacey begged.

“Right, of course.” Danny walked them back the way they had come from and pointed, “That is your locker room, and that is the door to studio five.”

Clara bolted into the locker room.

Lacey exhaled in relief, “Thank you, Danny, right?”

“That’s right, you’re welcome.” He nodded, “I saw Clara’s arabesques last night, they were lovely.” 

“Clara’s an amazing dancer.” Lacey confirmed, “What do you do here?” Lacey asked, genuinely curious now that she was about to leave her sister here alone all day.

Danny pointed to the huge promotional poster inside the shadow box behind her. Lacey turned to see Danny in tights holding a ballerina in the air in a perfect lift.

“I’m a dancer too.”

“Oh em gee, do you dance with Misty?!” Clara exclaimed from behind them.

Danny turned and smiled at the pint sized ballerina now standing there in a soft blue leotard.

“I have actually, but not in show. Misty’s a prima, she has a long time partner she works with when she does pas de deux.”

“Wow.” Clara went to inspect the poster in more detail.

“Are you talking to me now?” Danny asked, half-joking.

“Can I meet her?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Danny smiled at Clara.

Lacey stepped forward and tied a blue ribbon around Clara’s bun.

“It’s not easy to get in here, you must be a very talented dancer.” Danny complimented, “Congratulations.” He offered her sincerely, showing her all the respect he would give any of his other peers.

“Merci, Monsier Danny.” Clara giggled and completed a tiny demi-plié bow.

Danny laughed at that and gave her a high five. Lacey noted how much more energy she gave in returning it than she had to Archie’s high five attempt the night before.

“You need to get in there, you have seven minutes.”

“Late for being early.” Clara shook her head and brushed past them before bouncing into the studio.

“Thanks again for the help, Danny. It was nice to officially meet you.” Lacey kept it short and professional. She didn’t want to ruin any of Clara’s opportunities.

“My pleasure.” 

Danny turned and walked with Lacey back outside and down the theatre steps.

“You want to grab a cup of coffee?” Danny tried.

“I’ve got to get to work.”

“Is it far?”

“Not really.”

“There’s plenty of places right around here.”

“Don’t you have to go dance?”

“Already done. I go back tonight for a rehearsal.” Danny continued walking with her, “Just a quick cup?”

Lacey stopped and turned to face Danny’s dazzling, hopeful smile.

“I really can’t.”

“Okay, another time maybe?”

“Honestly, I recently got out of a relationship—“

“It’s just coffee.” Danny clarified.

Lacey watched the disappointment spread across his face. She was not used to being asked out on dates. It felt good, he was sweet and so handsome, why not? She deserved a moment for herself to feel good.

“I don’t drink coffee, I like tea.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Why are you so happy?” Archie looked at Lacey fondly.

“I totally killed that showing.” Lacey shrugged.

She left out the part about connecting with a super hot ballet dancer on a much deeper level than she had ever anticipated. 

“You always kill it. That’s not it.” 

Lacey strutted around Archie’s office, adjusting his picture frames and squaring the items on his desk.

“Clara was so excited today, Arch. She hasn’t been like that in so long.” Lacey gushed, “I’m so relieved to see her like that.”

Archie walked up to Lacey and reached up to brush some hair away from her face, “I could say the same thing about you.”

“Thank you for being there for us, honestly. Thank you.”

“I love you, of course I’m going to be there.” 

Archie stepped in closer and brought his hands up to frame Lacey’s face. It felt the same way it always had. Lacey searched his green eyes. Archie was handsome, loving, safe. 

They had met and began dating in college. They earned their realtor’s licenses together and began a small agency after they graduated. Three years later, their business was booming but Lacey’s heart was no longer there.

Lacey wanted fire, passion. She had loved Archie and all of the new adventures they had experienced together were exciting at the time, but the spark between them was never there, at least, not for her.

During the last three years, Lacey’s family had been through nothing but consistent bad times. Archie had been there, a soft place for her to fall throughout everything.

She had called it off six months ago on a night when she got real with herself and no longer wished to just stay insulated and safe. Lacey needed space to ground herself again. She was just a teenager when they met and now, at twenty four, she was ready to embrace whatever it was she knew she had been missing.

It wasn’t an easy transition. After this last, and typical, hookup in Archie’s office the day before, Lacey was ready to leave that behind too. It was the moment that Archie had known would come and the one he dreaded the most. 

It’s not that he would miss the sex, he definitely would, but he had hoped that if he stayed her constant companion and continued to satisfy her that Lacey would see that life together was better than being apart. He wanted her back.

Archie watched her today, happier than ever as she boasted about her sister. He loved seeing her happy. He leaned in to kiss her and Lacey tensed up. He opted to rest his forehead against hers instead and didn’t push it further. He knew her, knew when it was time and when it definitely wasn’t.

“I’ve lost you.” Archie whispered, his lips hovering right in front of hers.

“I need to take this step back.”

Archie pulled away, “I want to be that person for you.” He admitted honestly.

“I don’t want to force it or fake it.”

“Like you have been.” Archie surmised.

“No, but I would be if we continue.”

Whitney and Clara burst through the front office door and interrupted Archie’s bleeding heart.

“No, it’s like this.” Clara corrected Whitney’s fingers as she tried to learn perfect ballet hand position.

“Like this?”

“Yes! Isn’t it beautiful?” Clara smiled.

“I guess.”

“Thanks for picking her up, Whitney.” Lacey said before hugging Clara.

“Yeah, well, I am the receptionist at your ex boyfriend’s real estate agency after all. Picking up your baby sister from ballet is all part of it.” Whitney grumbled back condescendingly and mostly under her breath.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no, it’s all good. Oh! I did take a message for you though from, Danny, I think it was?”

Lacey’s eyes lit up, something that did not go unnoticed by Archie as he remained slumped against the doorframe to his office with his arms folded across his chest. That was it, she had met another guy.

“Okay, sure. What’s the message?”

“He—“ Whitney reached in and out of her pockets until she found a tiny scrap of paper, “Gave me this to give to you.”

Lacey accepted the folded strip: Thank you for showing me the ways of tea. Call or text any time 555-555-5555 —D

“Oh, okay, very good. Thank you.” Lacey tried to frame it like a business deal. She didn’t look at Archie.

“That guy is straight up the hottest guy I’ve ever seen.” Whitney said absently as she logged back into her computer and took her seat.

Lacey closed her eyes briefly and licked her lips. She could feel Archie’s eyes all over her.

“Who’s Danny?” He asked as evenly as he could.

“He is a dancer at the American Ballet Theatre where C is attending that special program.”

“He was there for a rehearsal when I got there, tights and all—“ Whitney thirsted further.

“Whitney—“

“What? He’s fine.”

“It’s not appropriate to talk about anyone like that with Clara right here.”

“You’re right, sorry.”

“Danny looked just like the poster, Lace-face!” Clara gushed.

“Did he now?” Lacey was suddenly thankful she hadn’t seen him dressed like that, she wasn’t sure she would be able to not flat out ogle that shit, “Did you have a good day?” She tried to deflect her own very active imagination.

“Yes! I can’t wait to go back. Madame Rossi gave me corrections to work on. Looks like Miss Jana wasn’t the best with teaching me details.” Clara roasted her long time ballet instructor.

Archie walked away and sat back down at his desk while Lacey made Clara a snack and got her set up to work on homework. Lacey eventually made her way in so they could go over some new properties.

“We need to get into fifteen Park.” Lacey said as if there was nothing else to talk about.

Archie just stared back at her for a while before he had to know more.

“Who is Danny?”

“I’m pretty sure you were standing there when I answered you the first time—“

“Is he why you’re pulling away?”

“No. Look at you right now, you’re so jealous!”

“I’m not jealous.”

“You’re jealous.” Lacey smiled.

“Is he straight?”

“Wow, I just met him yesterday, it’s not really what you lead with when you first meet someone.”

“Wait, yesterday? I thought her program started today?”

“It did, we actually ran into him at the rink last night. Finding out he dances at the theatre was a coincidence.”

“Well he sounds very, handsome, I guess.”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Can I meet him?”

“Arch, I met him one time—“

“What about Clara? I mean, she shouldn’t just meet a whole bunch of random guys like this.”

“What guys? Archie, slow your bullshit. You’re not my father and you’re not my boyfriend.”

“Damnit.” Archie blew out.

“I’m not dating anyone right now, but when I do, it’ll still be none of your business.

“No you’re right, maybe we should really move this along, start fresh.”

“Thank you, it’ll be a good thing, you’ll see.”

“How long do you need to find another place to live?”

“Excuse me?”

“What about your clients? Will they follow you freelance or are you thinking about joining another umbrella agency first?”

“So it’s like that?”

“It’s like that.” Archie confirmed, he was destroyed.

“I’ll figure it out as soon as possible.” Lacey stood and left the office.

“Thirty days.” Archie said at a loud enough volume to emphasize his pain but not loud enough to be considered yelling.


	4. Chapter 4

She had a dream about the tights.

“Lacey, we’re late!”

“We’re not late, Clarebear, I’m coming right down.”

They were late. 

Lacey had been having such a hard time falling asleep all week, worrying about finding a new place for her and Clara to live and trying to figure out how she would retain her clients while being kicked out of the agency she had helped build. How had she failed to plan for this happening?

It was after 4 am when she finally passed out, her over-worked mind finally giving her the gift of inserting Danny into her dreams, tights and all. Now, twenty minutes late and running around like crazy to get ready, it was still all she could think about. 

She had successfully avoided Danny all week, sending Clara into her ballet program with another one of the program mothers and sending Whitney to pick her up at the end of the day. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him, but she really had to focus on current events.

“Danny asked about you again yesterday.” Clara said as they met the ballet mom at their usual spot.

“Yeah? Well that’s very kind. Someone will be by to pick you up after. I’ll see you at work later, okay?”

“Why can’t you pick me up?”

“I’m very busy.” Lacey squeezed Clara and thanked the ballet mom as she scooted her away, “Have fun!”

Lacey slid into her office, thankful for not having any client appointments until late afternoon.

“Hey Whitney.”

“Why are you avoiding him?” Whitney asked.

“Who? Archie? I’m not avoiding him, did he say I was avoiding him?”

“Not Archie, Danny.”

“Danny? The guy from the ballet place?” Lacey played dumb, she didn’t want everyone all over her life right now.

“Lacey—“

“Oh! That reminds me, you’re good to get Clara today, right?”

“No, actually. I have my doctor’s appointment, remember? I’m leaving early today.” Whitney huffed.

“Are you serious? I didn’t know—“

“I added it to your calendar.” Archie’s voice penetrated through their conversation.

Lacey pulled out her phone, “I see, right. Okay well I’ll have to reschedule my meeting—“ She tapped away.

“I can get her.” Archie offered.

“Really? That would be amazing.” 

Lacey really couldn’t reschedule this meeting, she had tried for so long to get this client to meet with her for the sale of their entire newly renovated apartment building on Park Ave.

“You need to close this client. I don’t have anything going on.”

“Thank you, Archie. I really appreciate it.”

******

“I want to start pointe.” Clara revealed to Danny and Madame Rossi at the end of class. 

“No, no, no, it’s not time for that yet.” Clara’s instructor said.

“She’s correct, you need to continue polishing the basics first. How old are you?” Danny asked.

“Ten.”

“Give yourself time to grow and get strong enough to handle that. You have plenty of time.” Danny encouraged her.

“Archie!” Clara spotted him as he wandered into the studio, “I wanna show you everything!” She sang happily.

“Hey squirt, I’m all ears.” Archie smiled and looked over at Madame Rossi and the guy he suspected was Danny, damn he really was handsome.

“This is my place.” Clara stood at the barre and showed Archie her spot, “Oh! This is Madame Rossi and this is Danny.” Clara introduced.

Archie smiled warmly and extended his hand to greet the two adults.

“Nice to finally meet you, I’m Archie.” He said while looking at Clara’s teacher. He released her hand and moved his eyes over to Danny as he shook his hand and added pointedly, “Lacey’s boyfriend.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Danny responded, not missing a beat, “No Whitney today?”

“Not today, thought I’d stop in, see what all the fuss was.” Archie stared Danny down.

Danny’s face stayed neutral, nodding politely while his mind wandered back to his very brief tea date with Lacey. She had confessed that she had recently gotten out of a relationship, was this him or was this someone new? Danny noted that he seemed to know Clara too well for him to be a new person in her life.

Danny could tell that Archie was jealous. He assumed that Lacey must have felt the same spark that he had and let that leak out somehow or else why would Archie react this way? Was he just some painfully insecure guy? 

Danny was no stranger to the complexities of the unraveling of a long term relationship, he imagined it would be even more difficult if it involved a child. He assumed Archie was the man that had loved Lacey for years. Danny was a little jealous now too.

“Great work today kiddo, tell your sister I say hi.” Danny smiled, trying to balance defending the connection he felt for Lacey with his duty to Clara as a fellow dancer and human being. 

Everyone was sacrificing something to follow their dream. Danny had been in ballet since he was three too and knew the dedication it took to get where he wanted to be. He wasn’t giving up yet on the feeling he had the two brief times he met Lacey. There was more there, he knew it.

“I will. C’mon Archie, can we stop for hot chocolate?”

“Of course!” Archie smiled, “Excuse us, family time calls.”

Danny watched as Archie appeared to be genuinely excited to spend time with Clara. He wore her tiny backpack and made her laugh, completing twirls and leaps as they made their way toward the exit.

“There you are.” A petite blonde wandered into the youth studio in search of her partner.

“Hi Miss Crane.” Danny greeted her and gave Madame Rossi a look before heading toward the exit himself.

“Stay focused, Daniel.” She scolded him as he passed by.

“Yes Madame.” Danny bowed and ducked out of her room.

The blonde pulled Danny into the maintenance closet around the corner from their rehearsal space.

“No, no, no, no—we need to get in there and practice this new shit.” Danny objected.

The blonde shoved her hands inside the waistband of Danny’s sweatpants and began tugging them down.

“I waited for you in there for more than ten minutes. Now you will wait for me.” She struggled further, swatting at Danny’s hands as he tried to block her pursuit.

“Regina, please—“

“Danny face it, no one understands our life, our schedule. So we’re not a couple anymore, so what? That’s never stopped us before.”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Regina pouted from her knees, “Why not?”

“I met someone else.”


	5. Chapter 5

Lacey had no other options for Clara’s pick up the following day. Hiding obviously wasn’t working as everyone in her life all reported back to her that Danny had either said hello or requested she contact him.

She was surprised not to find Danny waiting there for her when she arrived as Clara, Whitney and Archie had described he had been all week.

“Lacey!” Clara acknowledged excitedly, “Look at my pirouettes!” 

Lacey watched Clara perfectly execute spin after spin.

“So beautiful, Clara!”

“She’s a prodigy.” Madame Rossi confirmed as she stepped up next to Lacey to assess her skills, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a student like her. You’re doing a wonderful job.”

Lacey’s heart began to swell, “Thank you.”

“I want her here full-time.”

“Oh, wow—“

“I’ll put in the recommendation for a full scholarship, could you get her here every day?”

“Of course, yes I can make that happen.”

“Lovely, I’ll submit the application today.”

Lacey and Clara headed out of the youth studio and toward the front doors.

“Bye, Regina!” Clara waved to a smiling ballerina dressed in a formal show tutu, makeup heavy and hair styled into a perfect chignon.

“Adieu, Clara!” She waved back.

Danny somehow appeared right behind the stunning ballerina also dressed in complete show attire. He took Lacey’s breath away.

“Danny!” Clara marveled at them all dressed up.

Danny looked over and caught sight of the woman that had captured his eye recently. The sparks were still there.

“Hey, CC! You done for the day?” 

“Yep!”

Danny smiled, giving her two high fives and a quick hug before he connected again with Lacey’s radiant smile.

“Mademoiselle, Lacey.” Danny’s smile hitched up the side of his face, too dumbstruck to think of anything else to say.

“Wow, you two, you both look amazing. Is there a show right now?” Lacey tried to focus, Danny’s body in those tights too attention grabbing not to look at.

“It’s a dress rehearsal, show is tomorrow. Are you coming?” Regina asked Clara sweetly.

Clara spun around with huge eyes, “Can we go?!”

“Oh, I didn’t get tickets, I—“ Lacey stuttered.

“Clara can have my passes.” Danny offered.

“Oh, no, we couldn’t.”

“Lacey! Pleeeaaasseee?”

“It’s no trouble. My family can’t attend so you’ll really be helping out to fill the seats.”

“Okay, that’s very nice of you, Danny.”

“I’ve been trying to reach you.” Danny said quietly, Regina now aware of the additional layer to their connection.

“I’m just really busy.” 

Danny stared back at her and waited for Lacey to offer him anything else. She didn’t.

“Okay.” He nodded in understanding, he wouldn’t be progressing past this ballet connection, “Archie, I met him yesterday, he’s a nice guy.”

Lacey realized where his mind had gone. Before she had a chance to respond, Regina nudged Danny gently.

“C’mon Danny, they just called for us.”

“Right okay, I’ll see you tomorrow night?” Danny refocused on Clara.

“Yes! Thanks, Danny!” Clara hugged him, “Break a leg!”

“Adieu.” He smiled and headed inside the main theatre with Regina.

“Well, she’s gorgeous, I’ll give you that.” Regina prodded once they were alone backstage.

“I don’t think it’s going to work out.” Danny’s face was drawn, disappointed.

“Because she hasn’t fallen all over you? Jesus, Danny, have you seen yourself objectively in those tights?”

Danny looked down, “I—“

“Don’t give up yet, unless of course, you’ve changed your mind about us?”

“Let’s dance.”

******

“Some things are going to change soon.” Lacey began softly, trying to ease Clara into what was coming in the next couple of weeks. The last thing this little girl needed were more changes.

“What things?” Clara’s surge of anxiety was almost palpable.

“Well, first, Madame Rossi wants you with the Company full time.”

“Really? Like for school and everything? All day like the other kids?!”

“Yes. Would you like that?”

“Oh yes!” Clara jumped up and down.

Lacey smiled and just let her have the win, they both needed it.

“I’m happy you’ll be focused on that, it’ll give me time to focus on finding us a new home.”

“I don’t want to find a new home. What’s wrong with where we live now?!” Clara was pissed.

“This place doesn’t belong to us.”

“It’s almost Christmas, we already decorated here—“ 

“Hey, hey, listen. I promise, wherever we end up, we’ll decorate it right away. We’ll make it our home.”

“Will Archie come too?”

“No, Archie will stay here.”

“But what about his terrible spaghetti?”

Lacey laughed at that, “I’m sure we can still visit him for his terrible spaghetti sometimes.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

******

Lacey: Hello, this is Lacey

Lacey took a deep breath. She was lonely and couldn’t shake the image of Danny from her mind. She took that as a sign that she should at least reach out and take a leap of faith.

Danny: Bonsoir   
Lacey: Whitney gave me this number, I’m not bothering you am I?  
Danny: Not in the least, I was hoping you would text me  
Lacey: I wanted to confirm the time for the show tomorrow?  
Danny: The time for the show?  
Lacey: Yes  
Danny: I don’t know how to do this whole dating thing, but no one would give me your number so I could keep trying to talk to you. Is this you trying?  
Lacey: Yes  
Danny: Thank god. Can I call you?  
Lacey: Yes

“Hello?” Lacey answered as if she didn’t know who was calling.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

The little jolt of creeping electricity grew inside each of their bellies. Even barely speaking over the phone they both still felt the spark. This was beyond the excitement of trying something new that she had felt for Archie and it made her happy and terrified in equal parts.

“The show’s at seven.”

“You sure?”

“Well, yes. I’m in it so—“

Lacey giggled.

“The time for this show is everywhere, online, on that poster of me at the theatre, I’m certain Clara knows—“

“This was me trying, remember?”

“Okay then, my turn. Clara says you sell houses to people, is that your day job, are you a realtor?”

“My day job is probably closer to being Clara’s assistant, the realtor gig is just every waking moment outside of that.”

“You really are busy then.” Danny chuckled.

“I’ve been building this agency for years, it’s so much work but it’s finally paying off. Well, at least it was.” Lacey trailed off.

“Was?”

“I’m leaving the agency soon, lots of things are changing actually, I’ve just got a lot going on. I’m not sure, I’m not sure if—“ Lacey didn’t want to say it out loud.

“You’re not sure you have time to see what this is.” Danny said, the disappointment in his voice was unmistakable.

“Do you?”

“Probably not.”

Lacey’s heart sank a little, but at least they were both being honest with each other.

“Want to try anyway?” Danny asked in a true Hail Mary.

“I need to be careful. Clara’s been through enough, I’m trying to keep her world stable.”

“I think it’s important for her to see you happy too though. Her and I are cool, we do have a couple common interests after all.”

“A couple?”

“Well yeah, ballet, hot chocolate, ice skating, you.”

“Wow, subtle.” Lacey laughed.

“I like you.”

“I like you too.”

“Do you have time now? Maybe this could be our first date.”

“A phone call?”

“I am creative by nature. I also think there’s a lot to talk about so we’ve got to start somewhere.”

“Okay, it’s a date.” Lacey’s heart sprang to life, this felt good.

“FaceTime?”

“I don’t FaceTime until at least the third date.”

Danny laughed, “Okay, okay, no FaceTime yet. Can I start asking questions then?”

Lacey sighed, “I guess.”

“You sound so excited about it—“

“It’s going to get heavy, not exactly what I had envisioned our first date would be like.”

“You envisioned our first date?”

“Alright, you know what? Start asking questions.”

Danny chuckled at their easy banter, resetting his demeanor before going all in.

“Archie.”

“That’s not a question.”

“Is he your ex?”

“He is. We’ve been together since college. I called it off this summer.”

“Not to throw him under the bus because he seems like a nice guy and if he was good enough for you then—“

“Spit it out.”

“He introduced himself to me as your boyfriend.”

“He did?” 

“He did.”

“We’re not together.”

“Okay.”

“I mean, he wants to be together, but I’m not there. I haven’t been there for a while.”

“Yeah I know how that is.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, like you I’m all about my work. It’s been ballet all day every day since I was three. I dance pas de deux and was assigned a partner as a teenager. That was Regina, and so, things happen.”

“So Regina is your Archie?”

“Indeed. We’ve been dancing together for five years, dating for the last three. It just made sense at the time.”

“You’re not together now?”

“No. She’s still my dance partner, but I needed to make the break. She’s been okay about it, I think it’s just difficult to move on when you’re with them all day every day.”

“Archie’s not taking it as well.”

“You broke up six months ago—“

“It’s you. He knows someone’s on my radar now and so he’s realizing that he’s really losing his spot in my life. He’s asked Clara and I to leave our duplex and I am out at his agency next month.”

“Seriously?”

“This is what I mean, I just have to be careful. Clara’s about to go through another round of changes. I can’t ask her to be okay with some new man coming in and out right now.”

“Understood. Regina knows it’s you who’s on my radar too.”

“You said she’s okay with it?”

“Ballet is at the top of her priorities, not me, so she’s fine. She thinks you’re beautiful.”

“I can’t promise we’ll be friends.” Lacey said, truly happy they were not FaceTiming because she couldn’t hide the cringe if she tried.

“Can I keep asking the hard questions?”

Lacey knew what was coming next.

“Yeah, okay.” She exhaled softly.

“Why are you taking care of your sister?”

No one had asked the parent question this way before. She could tell that he was trying to be gentle and give her an out without making it awkward.

“Our mother died two years ago. Breast cancer. She hadn’t been sick for very long so we had no time to get used to the progression. Our father couldn’t handle it. Losing her, suddenly being solely responsible for Clara and figuring out how to have a bond with me now that I was all grown up. He bailed. Turns out he hadn’t been living his life authentically for years. He moved to Seattle to live with his new boyfriend, Mitch. He left Clara and I a note.”

“Wow, Lacey, I’m so sorry—“

“Archie and I had been together for a while at that point. He stepped up, moved us into the other side of his property and was just a constant for me and for Clara. I’ll never forget that and I’ll always love him for that.”

Danny knew he had to tread lightly here. If he wasn’t in the picture, Lacey wouldn’t have been asked to leave.

“So I’m already screwing this up for you two.”

“No, Danny, things can’t stay like this forever and I realize that. I should have found another place right after we broke up, or even before, but it was just easy and I needed it to be easy.”

“What about now?”

“My dad taught me some pretty big lessons. When things get tough, I choose the family I have left. He also taught me that life is not worth living if you don’t live it as your true self. I haven’t been living, I haven’t been feeling, I haven’t been moving on. Things have just been safe. I’m tired of that and I want more for me and for my sister. You’re right, I want her to see me happy. I matter, she needs to know that she matters too.”

“Lacey.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re amazing.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Find a place yet?” Archie asked, leaning back in his desk chair and tossing his squishy stress ball above his head over and over.

“Did you tell Danny you were my boyfriend?”

Archie held the ball and just stared up at the ceiling. He had no defense and any excuse would just make it worse, so he stayed silent.

“I’ll be out on time.” Lacey muttered.

“I’m not trying to put pressure on you, I just don’t want to hear—you know.”

“What? Me fucking another guy?” She shook her head.

Archie spun his chair around to face her, “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s on me, we should have left sooner.”

“I have a lead on a place if you want—“

“Thanks but I’m a realtor too, remember?”

“Okay, speaking of that. Ready to call your clients?”

“Let’s do it.” Lacey replied confidently.

They decided to personally reach out to every one of Lacey’s clients together. They wanted to explain that their division was a choice in order for each of them to independently expand their own businesses. 

They hoped that by doing it this way that Lacey would retain some of the business she had worked so hard to get. They gave each client a choice of who they would like to have assist them going forward. In the end, every single one of them chose to stay with Lacey.

“I think that went well.” Lacey said smugly after their last call.

“You’re a really good realtor, Lacey. Are you sure you want to go?”

“Oh—“ Lacey laughed, “Yeah, I’ll remind you that I was asked to leave. Unlike you, when someone tells me it’s over, it’s over.”

“Uh, am I interrupting?” Whitney poked her head into the office, “No? Good. Here Lacey, this came for you.”

Lacey’s smile widened at the gift Whitney extended her way. It was an antique nesting tea kettle sitting atop a matching teacup. The delicate set was wrapped in clear cellophane and tied with a Tiffany blue ribbon. Further inspection revealed a sampling of fresh looseleaf tea inside.

“For fuck’s sake.” Archie rolled his eyes at the thoughtful gift.

Lacey chuckled and opened the tiny card: Best first date ever. Here’s to many more. D

“Damn.” Whitney added.

“No sleepovers!” Archie growled, scooching his chair back and leaving them both smiling like dumb idiots.

“It came with these tickets.” Whitney added the envelope once Archie was gone.

“Thank you.”

“Mm-hm.”

******

“Come on, come on, come on!” Clara shoved her sister out the front door.

“Hang on, my shoe’s not even on yet!” Lacey slid back inside to wiggle her other foot into her fancy black heels.

“Don’t you two look nice.” Archie was coming up the front steps as Lacey and Clara were climbing down.

“Ballet show tonight.” Lacey nodded.

“Danny dancing in this one?”

“Yes! Are you coming, Archie?” Clara wondered.

Archie looked at Lacey and melted his prickly exterior real quick, “No Clara-ohara-bear-a. Not this time. Have fun, okay?”

“Okay! Lacey let’s go!”

The theatre’s lights were turned down low, chandeliers twinkling. Everything felt grand, elegant. They checked their coats and walked among all of the other well-dressed patrons in search of their seats.

“There’s Danny!” Clara pointed as they made their way to the front.

Danny was wearing a tracksuit, hair wild. Lacey thought back to their phone date the night before. He knew so much more about her now and she really didn’t know a whole lot more about him. Still, just having a more exclusive connection with Danny gave her butterflies.

“Lacey, wow. You look beautiful.” 

Danny took in his one-time date’s gorgeous sparkly little black dress and dramatic makeup. She was stunning. He greeted her with a tiny kiss to each cheek, he smelled amazing.

“Thanks, you look, unfinished?” Lacey squinted at him.

“Oh yes, I’m in so much trouble right now.” He giggled huskily, “You’d never be able to tell that I’m having a total meltdown, right?”

“Hi Danny!”

“Clara! There you are, my goodness, you look beautiful too!” Danny held his chest and spun her around with his free hand like he had done with his partners on stage for years, “Can I steal you for a moment?” He asked Clara, eyes darting over to Lacey for approval.

“Can I go?” Clara asked.

“Come with us.” Danny didn’t want either of them to be uncomfortable, “Two minutes, promise.” He confirmed, flashing his dazzling smile.

“Okay, sure.” Lacey trailed along behind a speedy Danny and Clara as he escorted them backstage.

“OHMYGOD!” Clara’s hands shot up to cover her mouth, total shock in her voice.

“Mademoiselle Clara, I’d like you to meet my friend,  
Misty Copeland.”

Misty was fully dressed, pointe shoes and all. Misty was much shorter than Lacey had anticipated, her and Clara were not too far off height-wise.

“Hi Clara! It’s so nice to meet you.”

“You too! You’re my favorite prima.”

“Thank you, that means a lot! Danny tells me that you’re part of our Company now. You must be a very hard worker.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll come and visit you in Madame Rossi’s class sometime soon okay? Auditions are opening up for our next show and it includes junior dancers so, stay focused and be ready. You never know when we could dance together.” Misty encouraged.

“Daniel Desai! Get in here!” The wardrobe attendant yelled across the backstage area causing everyone within earshot to quiet down.

“I’ll walk you back.” Danny said, poised as ever.

“It was so nice meeting you!” Clara hugged Misty gently, careful not to mess up her costume.

“Bye now, enjoy the show!” She called after them.

“Oh my gosh, thank you Danny, thank you so much!” Clara squeezed him extra tight.

“Anything for you!” Danny winked at Lacey, “After?” He asked Lacey carefully, “Hot chocolate or something?” He shrugged.

“Okay.” Lacey smiled, “We’d like that.”

Danny’s face lit up and he waved as he ran back the way he had come.

“I think Danny likes you.” Clara stated with little emotion. 

“You think so?” 

Lacey had no idea how to gauge Clara’s thoughts on this, dreading that if Clara wasn’t on board then neither was she.

“He’s always asking about you and smiling at you.”

“What’s your sister advice then, I need it. How would you feel if I started dating him?”

“Like a boyfriend? Like, kissing and stuff? Like with Archie?”

“Maybe. I just met him so I’d have to get to know him better first.”

“What about Archie?”

“Archie is our friend for sure, but I don’t love him. Not anymore.” She tried to be honest, it was the truth.

The lights dimmed all the way down and their conversation paused there. 

The show was fantastic, everyone delivering their weeks of dedication and lifetimes of sacrifice for their love of ballet and preforming. Misty was pure beauty to watch, followed closely by Danny and Regina telling a harrowing tale of love and sorrow through their intricate story. The orchestra highlighting all of the pain.

When Regina died in Danny’s arms at the end the lights went out, the curtain closed and Lacey cried like a baby. When the curtain rose again, the cast were alive and well, smiling and taking their bow.

The audience filtered out and Lacey and Clara found their coats. They waited together on the steps for Danny to meet them.

Danny: Where are you gals?  
Lacey: Front steps

“Hey!” Danny greeted them.

“The show was absolutely beautiful, Danny.” Lacey marveled over his performance.

“She cried.” Clara smirked.

They all laughed at that.

“What did you think?” Danny asked Clara for her opinion, “Anything I need to work on?”

“You picked Regina up so many times, you must be so strong.” Clara noted.

“I practice all the time, it’s not easy to do.” Danny admitted, “Anything else?” 

“You should be Lacey’s boyfriend.” Clara added, giving her sister the answer to her question in a very unexpected way.

“Oh, well—“ This totally caught Danny off guard.

“Clara—“ Lacey’s heart was pounding.

“What? You asked what I thought.” Clara turned to Danny, “Maybe you can teach her to dance, I’ve given up.”

Danny laughed extra hard, “Yeah, maybe I could.” Danny’s eyes dropped from Lacey’s face down her body and back again, “Lacey asked you about me being her boyfriend?”

“Yeah, like kissing and stuff like with Archie.”

Danny nodded, “And you’re saying that you’d be okay with it?” He wanted to hear it again.

“Yes.” Clara answered like they were both idiots.

“I’d do my best to make her happy, that’s for sure.”

Lacey smiled, a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

“Should I ask her then?” He asked Clara.

“Only if it means we’ll get hot chocolate sooner.”

“Be with me?” Danny didn’t hesitate, standing tall and pouring his heart out through his eyes.

“Danny we’ve been on one date—“

“Wait, you’ve been on a date? Where was I?!” Clara pegged her sister with a look that could kill.

“We had a phone date. You were asleep—“

Clara held her hand up, “I don’t need to hear anymore. Can you please just answer him so we can get some hot chocolate. It’s past my bed time.”

Lacey looked up at Danny, “I can’t say yes yet.”

Danny deflated but with a comical flair, “Okayyy.” He fake whined, “Thanks for trying, CC.” 

Danny took Clara’s hand and the trio made their way out for some hot chocolate.


	7. Chapter 7

“Thank you for my tea set by the way, it’s lovely.” 

Lacey snuggled further into her bed, her phone pressed tightly against her ear. After their hot chocolate, Lacey and Danny couldn’t get home and ready for bed fast enough, both of them looking forward to another phone call.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“So tell me about your family.” Lacey asked smoothly.

“Is this our second date then?”

“Let’s see, another family backstory, yes, yes it is.” 

“My father is in jail.”

“Whaaaaat?”

“Embezzlement. He is just generally a piece of garbage. He’s been in federal prison since I was five, which sounds horrible, but really, I started dancing at three and he hated that. The break from his taunting has been really nice.”

“Jesus, Danny. When does he get out?”

“At least ten more years I believe, I really don’t know.”

“What about your mom? What’s she like?”

“My mum is a very driven person. She’s the life of every party, event, whatever. She has a lot of priorities in her life, I’m just not really one of them.”

“Are you from the city?”

“No, I am from New York though. Green Grove, about an hour south of the theatre.”

“Does she come up for your shows?”

“No, not often. Don’t get me wrong, she’s thrilled that I’m successful, I just don’t fit in with her lifestyle. I think she started me in dance because she wanted to be seen as unconventional or sacrificial, then she realized I could go for the entire day so she encouraged me and used it as a way to not have to be there for me. Freed her up for other things.”

“That’s awful.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother. She was a single mom most of my life so I know she had to do what she had to do.”

“I don’t want Clara to feel that way. I want her know she has family who loves her and would do anything for her, with her.”

“I wanted my mother’s approval so much, I tried to be the best. She’d be happy, but then push me harder to invest more time. When I realized she wanted nothing to do with me, I started using ballet as a way out instead of a way to bring us closer. I eventually got a spot with the theatre and I haven’t looked back.”

“Do you have siblings?”

“No. I don’t know what I’d do if I knew there were more Desai’s out there being neglected.”

“Well you’re a natural with Clara.”

“You think?”

“She adores you.”

“She gave us her blessing tonight, I wasn’t expecting that.” Lacey could hear Danny’s happiness on the other end of the line, it warmed her.

“Me neither.”

“Did you find a place yet?”

Lacey blew out in frustration.

“It’s the city, you know? I don’t feel confident enough yet that my clients will truly all follow me and keep me afloat if I go with a nicer place. I have to be smart. Smart in the city equals a shitty fucking apartment, so then I’m compromising Clara’s safety, her quality of life, I have to think of all of it.”

“So that’s a no?”

“I haven’t found a place.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about earlier, about asking for something more too soon. I heard Clara’s approval and just went for it. Can I ask, do you feel what I feel when we’re together or am I imagining all of this?”

Lacey’s belly fluttered, “I think so. I don’t recall ever feeling this way or feeling this good, but I need more than one date before I can commit to a new relationship like that.”

“It’s our second date now.” 

“Danny—“

“Hear me out?” Danny sounded nervous.

“What’s up?”

“I—I’m wondering if maybe you’d like to stay at my place? Just temporarily, you know, until you find the right spot for you guys.”

“Danny—“

“It’s less than two weeks before Christmas and he wants you out like next week and Clara doesn’t need that shit, and neither do you and I don’t want this to be weird, I’m not like some scary psycho or something, you can do a background check on me—“

“Whoa, whoa, Danny. It’s a nice offer, thank you. I just—“

“Won’t even consider it.” Danny said flatly.

Lacey took a moment to reset, why was she not considering it? Sure she liked Danny and had all the feelings, but she had other things to think about before herself. She needed a place to live like ASAP.

“Where do you live?” Lacey decided to at least hear him out.

“I have a townhouse directly across from the theatre. After I finished the academic program I had to move out of the dorms. My mother actually found it for me, probably so I wouldn’t think of coming back home. Anyway, she bought it and I paid her back.”

“You own it?”

“I do, and it’s a three bedroom.”

Lacey couldn’t believe how perfect it sounded. Maybe this really could be an option. She wondered if her mother’s spirit was in any way guiding this whole thing.

“Come by and see it tomorrow? I have practice in the morning and then I teach the lifts to the male pas de deux students on Fridays so I’ll be busy in the afternoon, but maybe you have time somewhere in between?”

“This is going to sound so insensitive, but can you text me your info so I can literally do that background check in the morning?”

“Done. No worries. Does that mean you’ll check it out?”

“Honestly? Yes. How about ten?”

“I can do that.”

******

“Morning Whitney, got you a coffee.” Lacey smiled as she walked into the office first thing the next morning.

“Thanks? What do you want from me?” 

“Can’t I just do something nice for such an amazing emplo—“

“No. What’s up?”

“I need a favor, a quiet favor.” Lacey slid Whitney a piece of paper, “I’d do it myself but I have a client meeting and I need the info right away.”

Whitney looked over the page, “This is all Danny’s info?”

“Shhh.” Lacey looked around, “Yes, I need a background check, criminal, civil and financial. Anything you can find. I just don’t want Archie to know.”

“Okay, well, he’s not here yet and I’ll keep it quiet.”

“Thank you, Whitney, I owe you.”

“Not gonna lie, I am dying to see the results myself.”

Halfway through Lacey’s meeting she received a text.

Whitney: Public school until age six, youth ballet program and school at the American Ballet Theatre every waking moment since. No arrests, no court dates of any kind. He has a valid driver’s license, no entries on any sex offender registries, no parking violations, no speeding tickets. No vehicles registered in his name. His mother is the special events manager at the Green Grove Country Club. Dad is in federal prison on fraud charges and will be until he’s 85. Yikes. No siblings. He has two credit cards, one with a zero balance, the other with a two hundred and eighty dollar balance and a five thousand dollar credit line. No other debts, home is in his name, taxes are paid. Credit score 825. Honestly, I’m bored. Congratulations.

Lacey’s butterflies were back as she dragged Whitney along to see Danny’s apartment.

“Why do I have to go?” Whitney protested every second of every minute.

“You yourself said he was boring, it’s always the squeaky clean ones you have to worry about. I just want someone else there, okay?”

Lacey rang the doorbell of the absolutely charming brownstone a little after 10 am. Danny opened the door enthusiastically.

“Hey!” He gave Lacey a quick hug before he spotted Whitney, “Hi Whitney, I didn’t realize you were coming too, please, come in—“ He held the door open for the girls and they walked in together.

“I hope you don’t mind, we were out running around for a client.” Lacey lied.

“Not at all, you’re both welcome any time.” He smiled politely, “So this is the kitchen, the living room—“ Danny walked around, arms outstretched and his hands doing that ballet thing they did naturally as she glided around his space.

It smelled like Christmas, warm and slightly spiced. There were simple garlands of evergreen, dotted with white lights and accented by strings of cranberries and dried orange slices. Everything was clean and organized, but also felt warm and lived in. Cozy. A home.

“One bathroom over there, this room here is my office, but really it’s where I play video games, not gonna lie.” Danny opened the man-cavesque room and quickly shut the door again.

The girls followed Danny upstairs.

“This is the primary bedroom, it’s where I sleep. There’s a bathroom in here, closet.” 

Danny’s bed wasn’t made, his bathroom was clean but you could tell he just got ready every morning and paid no attention to where he would set things down, deodorant was just out on the sink, towel half hanging out of the hamper. He was normal.

“There’s a bathroom out here in the hallway, the second bedroom is over there.” 

Danny opened the door to a smaller bedroom with a daybed and several totes stacked in the corner, the room obviously doubling as a storage space. Lacey tried to imagine her or Clara sleeping here.

When they walked back out of the second bedroom Lacey looked around a little confused.

“I thought you said this was a three bedroom?”

Danny smiled and continued around the corner from the smaller bedroom to a small staircase, solid wood and full of character. They all climbed up to a loft bedroom with two skylights. The space was smaller, but very unique. She knew Clara would love it.

“The skylights are nice, you can watch the stars at night while you’re lying in bed.” Danny watched Lacey imagining Clara’s future, he hoped she approved, “The basement is finished, there’s a barre down there of course, and a mirrored wall. It’s my work out space, Clara’s welcome to use it to practice any time. I have a desk in my bedroom, the office can be cleaned out so you’ll have a place to work from.” Danny suggested as he lead them back downstairs.

“Wait, is he showing you his place because he’s offered to have you move in?” Whitney whispered, finally connecting the dots.

“Do you think I’m crazy for considering it?”

“Nope.” Whitney smiled big.

“That’s pretty much it.” Danny said as they made their way into the living room. Danny pointed to the corner, “I figured we could bring your tree over and set it up there, have it be familiar for Clara, so she knows it’s her place too.”

“I’m gonna wait outside.” Whitney excused herself before her own heart exploded.

Danny reached for Lacey’s hands, a physical step he hadn’t tried before. In fact, the hug Danny had greeted her with today was their first one. He didn’t pull her close, but chose to lovingly massage the backs of her hands with his thumbs.

“What do you think?” He asked hopefully.

“It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Are you sure you want to take this on? I mean, there’s fighting sometimes and it’s not always easy. We are sisters, you know? She’s not my daughter.”

“I’ve never had that, so I’m sure I’ll need time to adjust, but yeah, I’d really like to have you here. Even if it’s temporary, at least you’ll be able to relax and have your own space while you look for what you really want.”

“Okay, yes. Thank you, Danny. I mean it.”

“Awesome, in that case,” Danny dropped her hands and went over to his key rack by the door, “this key is for you. Move your stuff any time. I can help, but honestly my schedule for the next couple weeks is crazy with the holiday shows and we’re learning new choreography.”

“Thank you.” Lacey accepted the key and added it to her chain.

“What are you up to now?”

“I don’t have another appointment until three.”

“Perfect. Come with me into the studio?”

“Like, the ballet studio?”

“Yeah, I book a space every Friday to work on new stuff.”

“Okay, I’d love to watch.” Lacey was excited to watch him work.

“Great, I’m just gonna run up and grab some stuff, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, I’ll go relieve Whitney from her post.”

******

Danny blasted some hip hop from the studio’s speakers as he warmed up and stretched out. Lacey mirrored him in solidarity as much as she could while wearing her office attire.

He eventually stood and hopped around, shaking out his legs and further stretching his upper body.

“Did you take ballet?” Danny was curious.

“Three years.”

“Why’d you stop?” Danny pulled Lacey to her feet and danced around a little.

“Well, I went from Clara’s height to my height by like age six.” Lacey exaggerated, “Everyone made fun of me being the tall girl in class and it just wasn’t my passion.”

“Three years is a long time. C’mon.” Danny patted the barre, “First position.” He instructed.

“Wha—no, no.” Lacey objected.

“C’mon. No one’s here. Show me.” Danny asked playfully as he completed basic ballet moves.

Lacey opened up and played along, surprising Danny with how clean and precise she was, while still remaining fluid and soft. She was really good at this.

“You move beautifully—“ Danny said as if he was in total awe, “You didn’t get to do lifts then?”

“No, no way. I’m also not a hundred pounds like your partner.”

“I can lift you.”

“Danny, no. If I hurt you I will literally die.” She shook her head emphatically.

“Trust me, please? It’s not about hurling you into the air, this isn’t dirty dancing. It’s ballet. Let’s do an easy one.” Danny bent a knee toward her and held his arms out, “Step here and put your right hand on my shoulder, like you’re going into a cartwheel.”

“You’ve seen all this, right?” Lacey made reference to her backside.

“I’ve definitely seen all that.” Danny smiled.

“Jesus.”

“Let’s go!”

Lacey knew he trained the other students in this particular area and put her trust in his ability to lift her. She hopped up and Danny hoisted her above himself with one hand.

“Good, let yourself hang there, relax. Good, now ballet feet, ballet hands.” 

Lacey obliged and corrected her positioning.

“Do you see?” Danny asked her, noticing that her eyes were still shut tightly.

Lacey opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of herself being lifted beautifully by Danny’s strong arms.

“Oh god.” She closed her eyes again, not exactly afraid of heights, but more from being completely uncomfortable.

“Ready?” He asked before rolling her down his body and back onto her feet, “That was great. Let’s try another one.”

“Oh I think one’s enough—“

“Never! C’mon, this one is even easier. Grand jeté, I’ll circle your waist and lift you up high, you’ll come right back down.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I just watched you stretch with me, you can definitely do that.” Danny smirked.

“Well, it won’t be pretty. I’m wearing like, rayon pants.”

“It’s just for fun. Go!” Danny pointed, his charming way of herding her along made her heart thump faster inside her chest.

She followed his instructions and Danny lifted her again with total ease, turning as she watched herself in the mirrored wall. Danny placed her down gracefully and kept her close.

Their sexual tension was killing her at this point. She loved the way his hands felt on her body and absolutely knew he felt the same way.

“That was beautiful.” He said softly, his hands now coming up to cradle her face, “You’re beautiful.” He licked his lips and went for their first kiss.

They kept it slow, chaste. Danny wanted desperately to move faster, but Lacey enjoyed the search so they met halfway. One thing they both felt was the passion they had been lacking for years.

“I’ve never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life.” Danny admitted and rested his head on Lacey’s shoulder.

Lacey brought her arms up to cuddle this sweet man further against her, “More please.” She requested softly.

Danny pulled back and they kissed again.


	8. Chapter 8

“This is it, Rico. You’ve got this.” Lacey encouraged her real estate protégé.

“No pressure.” He whispered to himself.

Lacey adjusted his tie and took note of his shoes. They weren’t the Velcro ones he had worn before, Rico opting for slip-on leather dress shoes.

“Can I ask you something?” Lacey smiled at him and fluffed his hair.

“W-What kind of a question is that? I mean, you ask me a question and the question is if you can ask a question? It’s kind of redundant and redundancy—“

“Okay, okay, Rico—“ Lacey took a deep breath, Rico copying her and taking one of his own.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m so nervous. Redundancy also makes me nervous.”

“Listen, you’ve been with me on so many showings, you know what you’re doing. If Rico can’t do it, step aside and let your subconscious take over. Be an actor. Sell this shit.” Tough love Lacey thought, that’ll do it. 

“Right. Okay. I’ll do it.” Rico nodded.

“Can you tie your own shoes?” Lacey couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Rico’s eyes widened just a little, he licked his lips nervously.

“I—I can.” He said almost too defensively, “I don’t think my fine motor skills have anything to do with my ability to sell real estate.” He added with fiery scorn.

“That right there, that’s the Rico we need right now. Let’s do this.” Lacey pointed to him.

The pair walked up the steps to the million dollar building, ready to close a deal. 

An hour later, Rico finished up on the phone with Whitney confirming the deal had come through from the buyer he had successfully sold the building to.

“How does it feel to have one hundred K heading to your bank account?” Lacey gave Rico a congratulatory slap on the back.

“Y-You mean fifty K.”

“No, you did all of the work in there. The commission’s yours.” 

“Why are you helping him?” Rico asked, his eyes not daring to look at her.

“Who?”

“Archie. You know he’s retaining me, why would you waste time helping me?”

“Well first of all, you’re my friend Rico. Secondly, we’re still coworkers as of right now, I see your potential, maybe other people won’t. I’m not burning bridges like that. Who knows? We could be working together again some day. I know Whitney will miss your antics.”

“Why, is Whitney leaving?” Rico stopped and turned his full focus on Lacey.

“She’s going to be my assistant.” Lacey thought he knew.

“Does she know that?”

“We talked about it briefly—“ 

Lacey’s mind wandered back to the very short conversation she had with Whitney after viewing Danny’s place together. Had she offered her the job? She thought she did. Did she forget to actually ask? Shit. Lacey began to panic.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I talked to her yesterday and she definitely gave no indication she was heading anywhere.”

“Thanks Rico, I’ve gotta go.”

Lacey dashed down the steps and left Rico standing there with his anxiety. Shit shit shit. She had so much going on she was truly off her game.

Lacey: Please tell me you’ll follow me when I leave?  
Whitney: Is this a job offer? So formal  
Lacey: I need you, I’ll put together something for you  
Whitney: I want $20/hr  
Lacey: What if Archie offers the same?  
Whitney: Well he does already have the office all set up. Where would I be reporting if I followed you? Danny’s man-cave?  
Lacey: It’s temporary, you could work from home too  
Whitney: I’m just giving you a hard time, of course I’ll follow you. Archie’s a dick  
Lacey: Thanks Whit, I’ll send you something today  
Whitney: 10-4 boss

******

Danny: Come by the studio today before you get CC?  
Lacey: Okay, sure :)

Lacey ran around for the rest of the afternoon, meeting clients and preparing Whitney’s formal job offer. Her and Archie went back and forth regarding Whitney. In the end he was satisfied keeping Rico and releasing Whitney, especially since his percentage of Rico’s commission had just doubled.

Lacey made it to the theatre about a half hour before Clara was set to be picked up. She checked in and headed over to Danny’s typical studio space.

The music inside the space was a fast tempo classical piece. Lacey opened the door quietly and had not been noticed by a very sweaty Danny and Regina who were fully engrossed in the dance they were working on. Why had she assumed Danny would be dancing alone today? Her face fell a little.

The tempo of the music slowed and grew with an almost tangible longing. Their moves changed with it and Danny lifted and wrapped Regina’s body around him sensually in timed measure before throwing her away and then pulling her back in. They had amazing chemistry and were so beautiful to watch.

Lacey could see how focused and intimate their connection was, even with both of them a sweaty mess dressed in sloppy shorts and yoga pants. Danny finally connected with Lacey in the mirror as she stood as far into the corner and out of their way as she could. He stopped Regina immediately.

“Why are we stopping?” Regina looked around in confusion.

“Ten.” He shouted and walked over to stop the music.

“You can take ten, I still need to work on my solo.” Regina marched over to the stereo and began her own music.

Danny grabbed a towel and rubbed himself down as best he could before walking over toward Lacey.

“That was beautiful.” Lacey gushed.

“You’re getting the sneak peek at our holiday program. No leaks now.” Danny smiled, “Hey I’ll be right back, okay? Bathroom.”

Lacey nodded and watched Danny leave her alone with Regina in what now felt like a very small space. She watched Regina move and glide around with power and grace, she was mesmerizing.

“What do you think?” Regina asked, chest heaving as she bent her feet back and forth, stretching her pointe shoes out methodically and with an OCD flair.

“It was lovely, truly.” Lacey admitted honestly.

“I meant about Danny.” She smiled warmly, “He seems like he’s really into you, talks about you all the time.”

Lacey hadn’t had any experience with exes before. Sure Archie had them, but they had all be pre-college so she had never run into any of them. Lacey could almost see Archie’s point about not wanting to see or hear anything involved with a new person in her life. It wasn’t comfortable.

The bottom line was that Regina was important to Danny and at the end of the day, it wasn’t like they were competing. It was a reasonable thought process, but watching the two of them dance together, it took Lacey a lot to convince herself that Danny and Regina were really over.

“That’s between Danny and I.” Lacey still felt like she had to protect them, safeguard them somehow.

“You’re a realtor, right? I think that’s what he said—“

“That’s right.” 

“What’s that like?”

“Busy.”

“I can’t imagine Danny and I doing anything else but ballet.” Regina looked in the mirror as she worked through some moves, “Especially not with a kid. Clara’s your sister, right? But you take care of her—“

“I’m not in the best headspace to talk about this.” Lacey shrugged and sunk further into the corner.

Regina gave her a nod before continuing on with her dance. Lacey couldn’t imagine it either. Maybe this thing with Danny was too far of a reach.

“Hey, sorry about that.” Danny returned quickly and pulled Lacey in for a hug, she didn’t hug back.

“I need to go pick up Clara.”

“Okay, is everything okay?” Danny asked quietly.

“Fine, yes. I’ve gotta go.”

Lacey slid back out of the studio, too early to pick up Clara, so she exited the theatre and took a seat on the steps out front. She needed to breathe.

“Lacey, hey.” Danny had followed her and took a seat beside her.

“It’s freezing, you shouldn’t be out here in shorts.”

“What happened? Did Regina say something?”

“No, she didn’t say anything.”

“What’s bothering you?” Danny rubbed her back gently and Lacey’s heart clenched in her chest.

“I’m messing things up with work, I’m not focused like I should be.” Lacey said regretfully.

“What things?”

“It’s not your burden, Danny. I just need to get back on track, I have to.”

“I understand, but what about you?” Danny asked her honestly, worried she was about to bail on them.

“What about me?”

“You agreed with me the other night that it’s important for Clara to see you happy. You should get a babysitter and show her that sometimes it’s okay to go out on a date, a real date.”

“Danny—“

“She has had to go through a lot of changes, but so have you. Who’s taking care of you?” Danny asked sweetly, wanting desperately to be the person to fill that job.

“Have you been talking to Regina about me?”

Danny didn’t expect that. He squinted at her, trying to understand where her mind was.

“Um, generally yes, your name has come up. We talk about a lot of things—“

Lacey nodded, “If you’re interested in me, Danny, our shit stays private.”

Danny sat up straighter, more guarded, “I didn’t—I mean, she knows I like you, everyone does—“

“And that I’m a realtor, I take care of my sister—“ Lacey ticked off her fingers.

“I didn’t realize all of that was a secret. I can’t tell her anything about you?” Danny didn’t think that was reasonable.

“I said what I said.”

Danny wasn’t sure what to do with that. Lacey stood and walked back inside, clearly frustrated. 

Danny remained seated and rather stunned on the front steps. Is this how disagreements would go between them? He didn’t want to leave it like this.

A few minutes later Lacey reappeared with Clara by her side.

“Dannyyyy!” Clara sang and gave him a big hug.

“Claraaaa!” Danny copied her and gave her their usual double high five.

Danny watched Lacey’s stress and anxiety bubble just under her skin, she was exhausted.

“Now that I know, I won’t say anything else. I’m sorry.” Danny pleaded with his eyes, “I’m sorry.”

Clara dropped her back pack and it went rolling down the steps, the zipper not fully closed and random stuff spilling out.

“Damn it!” Lacey snipped and Clara took off after it.

“You need a break.” Danny insisted.

Lacey heard him and she knew he was right. She watched as Clara successfully wrangled her bag and it’s contents before climbing back up the stairs.

“Call me later?” Lacey said with a fair amount of reluctance, “It’s all I have to offer right now.”

“Definitely. Good night, CC.”

“‘Night, Danny!”

******

“It’s our third phone date.” Danny pointed out.

“So?”

“So FaceTime me?”

“I’m not sure we’re ready for such a big step.” Lacey quipped.

Danny hit the FaceTime icon and Lacey accepted, her hair up, glasses on.

“You wear glasses?” Danny smiled at Lacey all cozy in her bed.

“If you’re about to judge me and my glasses right now you’ll never kiss these lips again.” Lacey joked.

“I fucking love those glasses.” Danny responded immediately.

Lacey giggled at that.

“Speaking of those lips, am I still on the list of people you want kissing them?”

“I know we didn’t talk about privacy before today, I’m sorry I kind of blew up earlier.”

“Is that a yes?”

“If you really meant it when you said you’d keep your mouth shut about me, then yes, you’re the only one on the list.”

“I meant it. Damn, Lacey, I want to know everything there is to know about you.” Danny shook his head and looked her face all over.

“Well that’s blunt isn’t it? This isn’t turning into phone sex.” Lacey asserted before it could even begin.

“Hey now, I wasn’t going there—“

“Alright, alright.”

“Lacey that kiss? It’s all I think about. All day, every day. Don’t you think about it too?” Lacey didn’t respond, “You and I both know that is not true.”

“It was a nice kiss.” Lacey stayed guarded about her true feelings for now.

“I’m bad at this part, I’ve only been with one person so I really have no game.” Danny laughed at himself.

“Your game is just fine.” Lacey wanted him too, “I won’t do anything when Clara’s in the house, special phone calls included.” Lacey said, complete with air quotes.

“How did you and Archie make it through all these years?”

“Well, it was easy when we were on campus. After my mother died and my father left, Archie and I used the office.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s the only place we had during the only time we were Clara-free. I’m nothing if not resourceful.” Lacey smiled, “Poor Whitney.” 

Danny laughed, “I wouldn’t dream of doing that in the studio.”

“No?”

“No way, there’s cameras everywhere.”

“We kissed in there—“ 

“It’s fine, it was part of our dance.” Danny winked, “Did you tell Clara about moving in yet?”

“No.” Lacey looked off to the side, her mind obviously drifting again.

“You’re having second thoughts?”

“I like you, Danny, so much. It’s just so fast—“

“I’m sorry if I pressured you. I’m in a position to help, so I’m trying to help. If it’s not right, it’s not right.”

“Are you having second thoughts?” Lacey wondered.

“No.”

“Your place has been the best option so far. It’ll definitely be a short term stay. I don’t want to be living with someone, not when there are feelings.”

“Why not?”

“I want to take my time, do things right. Living together after knowing them for a week is a recipe for failure. Moving in together should be a huge measured step. Blending lives, it’s a big deal. Archie and I had been together for years and we’ve never officially lived together.”

Danny looked at her quizzically, “I thought you have been living together, isn’t that why you’re moving out?”

“He owns a duplex apartment building. Clara and I stay on one side and he’s on the other.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize. Listen, I never want to do another thing to piss you off like I did today, okay? I need to fully understand your boundaries so I know exactly how far you expect things to go—“

“Easy: don’t talk about me or us to other people and I won’t be sleeping in your bed after we move in, not once.”

“Never?”

“Not while Clara and I are living there, no. Never.”

“Okay, maybe not overnight, but what about being a visitor?”

“In your bed while Clara and I are living there? Nope.”

“Lacey—“

“You asked what the boundaries were—“

“Do I have a chance here at all?” Danny was so lost, “I mean, are you saying we’ll never sleep together or just never—sleep together?” Even the question to clarify wasn’t clear.

“We’re going to be roommates.”

“Is that all you want?”

“I want a lot of things, but I’m going one step at a time and doing my best. I’m telling you that while Clara and I are living there, we’re roommates.”

“Okay and so when she goes to have a sleep over at her friend’s house?” Danny asked hopefully.

Lacey tilted her head to the opposite side and just stared back at him. His face slid into a more neutral state, she wasn’t kidding around.

“Got it. I should probably go and start getting ready for bed.”

“Are you having second thoughts now that it’s all laid out?” Lacey wondered.

“No.” Danny didn’t hesitate.

“Honestly Danny, we really are very different people.”

“We’re going backward.” Danny sighed heavily.

“Excuse me?”

“We don’t have a lot of time for each other, we already established that.”

“Well even Regina pointed it out.” Lacey shrugged.

“I knew she must have said something—“

“She’s not wrong.”

“So you’re just going to let my ex dictate your personal life? I sure as hell am not thinking twice about what bullshit Archie had to say about me or us—“ 

“You really want to try this?”

“It’s you. You need to decide if you really want to try this. I’m here, I’m asking—I’ve been asking.”

Lacey licked her lips, her mind traveling again and preventing her from being here in the moment with him.

“Can we sit on the same couch together or—“ Danny tried to lighten the mood.

It worked, Lacey grinned, “I want to try.”

“Okay then, now that that is settled—again—Can I take you on a date, a secret date? You, me, shrouded in sexy secret darkness.” Danny flashed his brilliant smile.

“Fine. But only if I get you for five more minutes tonight.” Lacey smiled back.


	9. Chapter 9

“C’mon Clara, get the lead out!” Lacey yelled up the stairs, “Whitney, tell your father I said thanks again for his truck.”

“No sweat, he’s probably still passed out from his binge last night.” Whitney rolled her eyes and taped another box shut.

“Knock-knock.” Archie said after walking right in without knocking, “Came to see if you need some help?”

“I’m leaving the big furniture, sell it, whatever. The place we’re going is furnished.” Lacey grumbled, fussing with finding the beginning of a new roll of packing tape.

“You don’t want to store it?” Archie asked.

“It’s part of the past I’m trying to move on from.”

“Ouch.”

Lacey dropped her hands to her sides, “You know what? Everything I say is not always about you, okay?!”

“Okay, Archie, let’s get you carrying some of the boxes over by the pantry shall we?” Whitney held her hand out and guided Archie away from Lacey to diffuse the tension in the room.

Clara dragged her big suitcase down the stairs, “I got it all in here.” She confirmed as she reached the bottom step.

“Great, go put it in Whitney’s truck.”

Archie came out with a double stack of boxes from the kitchen, “No worries Clara, I’ll grab it—“

“Are you sure our tree will fit in Danny’s place?” Clara wondered as she pulled off and packed up some of the ornaments.

Archie stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes darting from Clara to Lacey.

“Danny’s?” He hitched his ear toward her as if he hadn’t heard right.

Lacey rolled her eyes. It wasn’t a secret, but she definitely had not planned on telling him about it. When she didn’t say anything back he slid the boxes down his body and set them on the floor.

“This is bullshit.” Archie said softly.

“Archie, just leave.” Lacey requested, she had no energy to deal with this.

Archie closed the gap between them, conscious about Clara being nearby.

“You’re moving in with him?!” He whisper-growled.

“We’re just going to be roommates until I find the right place—“

“Oh, roommates sure. Nice.” He shook his head, “Three fucking years I respected you, I played your games your way, you never let me in like that. You’ve known this guy for what, three weeks and you’re already moving in?! What is it, huh? Money? He got a thirteen inch cock because I know you don’t like ballet that much—“

“Watch it.” Lacey growled back, hers not quite a whisper.

“Clara, come help me in the kitchen?” Whitney pulled Lacey’s little sister along and away from these bickering exes.

“He’s stealing my fucking family!” Archie held his hands out like he was showing her something obvious.

“YOU asked US to LEAVE!” Lacey matched him, throwing her own hands up.

“I didn’t think you’d ACTUALLY LEAVE!”

“Get out. This is over, it’s been over. Where I’m going and who I’m going to be living with when I get there is none of your business.” Lacey pointed to the front door.

Archie’s nostrils flared and he took off.

******

“That’s everything.” Lacey rubbed her hands together.

“Really? You guys travel light.” Danny walked up beside her and threw his arm around the back of her shoulders.

Lacey shrugged him off gently and took a step away. At this point she was overwhelmed and ready to crawl into bed and cry.

“Hey when can we set up the tree?” Clara asked impatiently.

“You know, it’s been a long day. How about I take Clara with me out for dinner while you two clean up? I’ll bring some pizzas back with me and then you guys can all decorate the tree together while auntie Whitney goes home and drinks a whole bottle of wine by herself?”

“Thanks Whitney, I owe you.” Lacey sighed in appreciation.

Danny closed the door after watching Whitney and Clara climb up into the truck and drive away. 

“I think that went well.” Danny said, the happiness in his voice making Lacey smile softly, “I got you guys new towels, yours are the fluffy white ones, I got purple for CC, I think she likes purple, right?” 

“How’d you know that?”

“Her bag is purple, she wears purple to class more than any other color so I just assumed—“

Lacey followed Danny upstairs, stopping at the entrance to his room. Danny yanked his shirt off.

Lacey was stunned by topless Danny and barely collected her thoughts before realizing he was about to drop trou right in front of her. She quickly turned and stared at the door frame.

“I’m hopping in the shower. Coming?”

Lacey laughed like he as insane, “Uh, no—“

Danny pulled her over toward him before he further disrobed. Lacey bit her lip and wrapped her arms around him to mirror his embrace.

“You don’t have to be shy around me.”

“I’m not shy, I just didn’t expect to see you naked right now—“ Lacey looked down, unabashedly soaking in a closer look.

“I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“I’m not uncomfortable.” Lacey whispered before kissing Danny’s cheek, “I just kinda wanted to unwrap you for the first time all by myself.”

“I can put my shirt back on if you really want to take it off of me—“

“Don’t you dare.” Lacey smiled.

Danny leaned forward and kissed the tip of Lacey’s nose gently before going for more of the kisses Lacey gave him so freely in the studio several days ago. Lacey could feel his interest growing as their bodies remained pressed tightly against each other.

“We’re alone.” Danny panted when they finally broke apart.

“You remember the rules.”

Danny rested his forehead against hers and tried to control his raging hormonal body.

“I’m not asking you to join me in my bed, I’m asking if you want to take a shower—“ Danny defended lightly.

“I’m not there yet.”

“Okay.” Danny pouted and pecked her lips again softly, “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Danny forced himself to peel away from her and Lacey looked away again, hearing him finally shuck his pants off and toss his clothes into his hamper.

Danny disappeared into his bathroom, Lacey sneaking a peek at his backside before he closed the door. Danny’s ass was perfect.

Lacey slid into her new room. It was smaller than her place at Archie’s, but thankfully felt no less safe and comforting. She had been so emotional packing up the first place that had felt like home since her parents had left them in two very different ways. 

Seeing Archie help her pack up and then him getting upset with her when he found out about moving in with Danny only heightened her emotions and pushed her to snap back at him. At that moment, she had wanted someone else to feel how she was feeling. To understand the pain she had inside. Now she just felt guilty.

Lacey: I’m sorry I got upset with you Arch  
Archie: You’re forgiven. I’m sorry I wasn’t more sensitive at the time, I really wanted a goodbye hug. You all moved in?  
Lacey: We are  
Archie: Safe?  
Lacey: Danny’s a good guy Arch, promise  
Archie: You think I could still get that hug sometime?  
Lacey: I’d really like that  
Archie: I love you, Lacey  
Lacey: Good night  
Archie: Sweet dreams

******

“Can you lift me up, Danny?” Clara asked, star tree-topper in hand.

“You got it!” Danny lifted Clara like he would any other ballerina.

Lacey smiled at Clara’s giggles and Danny’s obvious love and kindness toward her little sister. As with Archie, this adoration was genuine and not some ruse to impress Lacey. She was happy that Clara could find that sense of family and happiness from more than one person now.

“Nice!” Danny exclaimed and plugged in the lights, “There we go, tree is decorated, ready for Santa.” 

“I know Santa’s not real.” Clara raised her eyebrows in challenge.

“Not real? What are you talking about?!” Danny pushed back.

“It’s just Lacey.” Clara pointed at her sister.

“No, Santa is the magic. He shows us how to believe in something and wish for good things for yourself and for others. It’s inspiring to think that one person can bring so much joy, and when you embrace him like Lacey does, it’ll become your turn to take on his mission.”

“Jesus is the reason for the season—“ Clara informed him.

“Okay, there’s that too.” Danny laughed and went back for another slice of their very late pizza dinner, “What did you ask for this year?” Danny wondered out loud in between bites.

Clara stayed quiet and just fiddled with the tree. Danny realized this must be a sore topic and looked to Lacey for some assistance.

“C why don’t you go try out the bathtub? It’s bigger than our other place—“ Lacey smiled.

“Bubbles?”

“Of course, your soap is out already and Danny bought you some new purple towels.

“Thanks, Danny.” Clara said and skipped away.

“You bet.”

Once Clara had gone upstairs Danny probed further.

“I stepped in it—“

“She asked to see our dad.” Lacey revealed.

“Shit.”

“It’s the only thing she asked for.”

“Do you have a way to contact him?”

“I did. He said he didn’t want to further disrupt her life and asked that I don’t contact him again.”

“Does she know that?”

“Hell no. She thinks that his heart was broken after our mom passed and that he moved away with his friend because seeing us reminded him of her and it was too painful to stay, which is kind of the truth. Enough for a grieving ten year old anyway.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. She’s older now, she’s seen what happens when you lose people that you love. Gifts really don’t matter to her like they did before. She just wants her dad.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Wha—no? Why?”

“I’m not trying to start anything, I’m just wondering if talking to someone who’s on the outside looking in might help shape his perception of what he’s really doing to his family.”

“I don’t think you should get involved—“

“Clara deserves people looking out for her. Let me try to help.”

Lacey tossed her crust down and wiped her mouth, “Yeah, okay. Can’t hurt.” 

Lacey pulled out her phone and sent him the number. Danny wasn’t sure what he could do, but at least it was something. 

“So, can we talk about this date?”

Lacey’s mouth hitched up on one side, “Well, Clara got an invitation today to a Christmas party for one of her friends.”

Danny literally inched himself to the edge of his seat.

“When?”

“This weekend, it’s a sleepover.”

Danny threw his fists in the air silently and made Lacey chuckle, his enthusiasm when it came to them was so cute.

“It’s my last weekend before I have to do back to back shows for a while. This is perfect. Please? Please go out on a date with me?” 

Danny plopped off the couch and crawled over toward where Lacey was sitting. He stayed on his knees and laced his fingers together to beg further.

“Wow, this is all very sad.” Lacey pointed before Danny pulled her onto the floor with him, “Hey!” She squealed.

Danny rolled her over and pinned her gently, dipping his face in close and kissing her tenderly. Lacey responded and reached up to hold his beautiful hair out of their faces.

He rolled them again, this time with him in a seated position with Lacey’s legs wrapped around him and sitting on his lap. Danny brought his hands to her ass and slid them down gently as their kiss continued. 

Lacey could easily rock her hips forward and drive this man wild, but why start something you know you can’t finish. She wasn’t about to start torturing either of them for some first base dry humping bullshit while her little sister was just upstairs.

“Down boy.” Lacey scolded and pulled his hands off of her.

Danny pulled back and rested both hands behind him, still balancing Lacey’s perfect body in his lap but giving them both space to breathe, “Is that a yes?”

“Yes. I’ll go on a date with you.”


	10. Chapter 10

“You are so fine.” Danny held his chest as Lacey made her way down the stairs into their shared living room.

Lacey chose a super flirty little black dress, sleeveless with a flared skirt and a gold zipper in the front that spanned the entire length of the dress. Lacey had long legs and intended to show them off. She chose black heeled booties to go with it.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Lacey smiled as she slid her leather jacket on.

Danny’s ensemble weirdly complimented hers: oxblood pants and black boots. His shirt was only tucked in the front, black with flowers lazily patterned all over. He had several necklaces on and a ring for every finger. She had no idea how eclectic his fashion sense was when he wasn’t wearing tights and sweats.

Danny walked out the front door and shut it behind him. Lacey squinted in confusion, was he mad about something? He hadn’t even said anything, was their uber here? Just as she was about to investigate she heard a knock.

Lacey opened the door to find Danny on the other side holding a bouquet of flowers. She couldn’t help her smile.

“You’re such a dork.” Lacey laughed and pulled him in for a kiss.

“I’m doing this date properly.” He smiled against her mouth, “Ready?”

“Well not anymore!” Lacey pulled the flowers from his hands in mock frustration, “Now I’ve gotta go try to force these dying flowers to stay pretty for me before we can go!” She took off to put the flowers in water.

Danny remained standing by the door, hands behind his back respectfully.

“Where are we going?” Lacey asked excitedly when she finally returned.

“A favorite spot of mine.”

“Oh so you’re taking me where you take all your girls then? Original.”

“You’re not very nice to me.” Danny scolded her playfully, “I’m taking you to my favorite spot—“

“So you haven’t brought Regina there?”

Danny just stuck his bottom lip out in defeat.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go with it.” Lacey pulled him out the door and the pair waited at the curb for their ride.

During the drive, Lacey’s phone rang non-stop.

“Yes, I can talk—okay—is that your best offer because I know my client will not approve that. I understand that but I’m telling you now, you need to get your client to come way up—yes, I’ll submit it now. Call you back.”

Lacey scrolled though her phone and called another number.

“Lacey Porter. Offer on Battery Park, one point two. I did tell them that—yes I did—I understand. Two one? That’s a bit high—I realize that. Yes. Okay. Call you back.”

Lacey glanced over at Danny who was quietly watching her work a deal.

“Lacey Porter. Counter is two one. Well, I tried to warn you, now you’ve insulted him. Looking for your final now, my client is not playing around. Two? Call you back.”

As Lacey called her client back Danny’s mind wandered to their lifestyles. This was Lacey, working on a Friday night while trying to be on what would likely be a very rare night out for them.

His mom had done this to him his whole life. Was he okay with this? Was this why he was so drawn to her? Maybe he just had mommy issues. Was he ready for kids?

“It’s a deal at two. Send my assistant the information within the hour and it’s yours.”

Lacey tucked her phone back into her bra.

“Sorry about that.”

“Good news?”

“I sold a condemned building for two million, I’d say yes.”

“Wow, so how does that work? How do you get paid?”

“I sold it, so my seller gives me a percentage of the sale. In this case, about twenty grand.”

Danny eyes got huge, “Seriously? How much time went into it?”

“Well, like I said, Clara’s my day job and selling real estate is just every waking minute outside of that. This property took two weeks to move.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry, I’m all yours now—“ Lacey’s phone rang again, “Excuse me. Hey Whit. It did? Excellent, thank you. Yes please. Good, we’re on a date right now actually. Okay, I will. Bye bye.” Lacey hung up again, “Whitney says hi.”

Danny remained pretty reserved and quiet for the rest of the ride. He pulled Lacey’s hand into his at some point and just massaged it as he looked out the window.

As they pulled up to their destination, the two exited and straightened out their outfits. Lacey stopped Danny from continuing on to open the door.

“Hey, listen, I’m sorry about working. Phone’s silenced now, except for Clara’s friend’s mom, you know—“

“It’s okay.” Danny lied, “We’re here now.” He held the door open for her, deciding to just let it go.

One of Danny’s favorite spots was a place called The Dance Barre. Despite it’s cute word play, the spot wasn’t filled with uptight Karen’s reminiscing about their childhood ballet failures. Lacey noted current music and a much larger area for dancing.

“Drink?” Danny asked as he slid them over toward the bar and signaled for the bartender.

“Sure, beer me. Any kind.”

“Beer, really?”

“Is that okay?”

“No, yeah—I just—“

“Expected me to order like a lemon drop or something?”

“Two Märzen please.” Danny asked the bartender, paid and left a sizable tip.

“Thank you.” Lacey tipped her glass against Danny’s and took a healthy sip.

“You like that.”

Danny watched her in wonder, swooping in to collect the drop that splashed onto her bottom lip with his own mouth. Lacey kissed him back happily, their lips releasing each other’s with a soft pop.

They finished their first drinks relatively quickly, Danny hoping that the liquid courage would help him for phase two.

“Dance with me?”

Lacey looked around at all of the amazing dancers, reluctant to join them. Danny knew there would be hesitation so he pulled her glass from her hand and led her onto the dance floor without waiting for her answer.

“I didn’t say yes.” Lacey said into his ear, the only way he’d hear her over the music.

Danny was already dancing, taking her hands and pulling her against him so she’d hear him this time.

“It’s too loud to talk, all you can do now is feel.” He said in the sexiest voice she’d ever heard, “Just feel it.”

Lacey closed her eyes and took a deep breath before finding a rhythm that worked with Danny’s masterful hips. The fact that he was a professional dancer did not leave her mind every time she had pictured him making love to her over the last few weeks. He had to be good in bed, right?

Danny had thought about her too, imagining all of the things he’d like do to please her and make her smile. He had tried to imagine what she’d sound like, what she’d taste like.

The next song was slow, sexy. Danny pulled Lacey in close and held her tight. He loved that Lacey’s body naturally went to the lead position and Danny just went with it, following wherever her body wanted them to go.

A little more than halfway through the song Lacey slumped against Danny a little too heavily, her face buried in his chest. She was crying.

“Hey, hey.” Danny pulled her closer and held her even tighter, Lacey making no move to flee or open up about what was wrong.

When the song finally ended, Danny dragged her off the dance floor and into an open corner table away from the bulk of people. He kept his chair right beside hers.

“How’s our first date going?” Lacey asked sarcastically, wiping her eyes with a napkin that Danny had found, “Good thing I don’t wear make-up I guess.”

“Lacey—“

“My mom. I miss her. That song was one of her favorites.” Lacey nodded, “She would have loved you.” Lacey sniffled.

“You think so?” Danny smiled, pleasantly surprised she was opening up.

Lacey nodded, “Yes. She loved ballet, she never warmed up to Archie—“ Her thoughts were all over the place.

“Wanna get out of here?” Danny asked carefully.

“I’m okay, really. Should we have round two?”

“Maybe that’s not the best idea—“

“Let’s have a good time Danny, you were right, I need this break.”

“Okay. What do you want for round two?”

“Tequila.”

Danny eyed her carefully, “Just tequila?”

“On the rocks I guess, yes.”

Danny gave her a nod and headed off to the bar.

Lacey: I’m fucking this date up  
Whitney: You okay? You need anything?  
Lacey: I’m okay  
Whitney: Danny really likes you Lacey, you’re not messing up a thing. Just stay honest with him

“One tequila on the rocks.” Danny presented triumphantly.

“Thank you.” Lacey accepted the drink and sipped it.

They talked then, for a very long time. Lacey let out all of the things she had bottled up with no one tell. She told Danny about the cookies her mother used to make and ship to her at college, that she was really sad that her and Archie had fought the day of her move, that she’s terrified she won’t have all the answers to help Clara through the tough times and that she worried about having enough money to send her to the college she deserves.

Lacey told him about what her plans were before her parents brought her and Clara to where they were now and what her plans looked like now. It was heavy, it was light, it was exactly the conversation that needed to happen so that Danny could understand so much more about her on the deeper level they both craved.

“Thank you for listening to me, Danny. Your friendship, your kindness—you’re exactly the man I thought you’d be.” Lacey offered him genuinely.

“Round three?” They had both nursed their second drinks and neither of them were buzzed anymore, just warm and happy.

“I think I’m good. I definitely want to remember this night. I was thinking though—“ Lacey stood and fussed with her dress, stretching a little and holding her hand out to pull Danny to his feet, “How about another dance?”

“I’m down. You sure?”

Lacey tugged him along, no longer hesitant about marching into the sea of much more highly intoxicated people and dancing with the hottest man in the building. She spun around and inadvertently flashed Danny a tiny peek of what was under her dress, Danny’s face was priceless.

It was a fast song and while Lacey liked to dance, she wasn’t exactly an expert. Danny on the other hand was an expert and the two of them made each other laugh trying to figure out how to dance together.

By the third song, they had that shit down. Danny twirled Lacey around and pulled her in close, their hips working almost obscenely at this point. Lacey was the one who reached for Danny’s backside first and finally got to squeeze his perfect ass.

“Careful now. Don’t start something—“ Danny said into her ear. He pulled back and smiled at her, definitely warning her at the same time.

“No?” Lacey asked innocently.

They both knew they had a hair trigger at this point.

“It’s your rule, roomie.” Danny reminded her.

Lacey slid her hands back up and deflated against him, “I think I’m ready to go.”

Danny nodded and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and tucking her arm under his as he nudged them back off the dance floor and out the front door of the bar.

The night air was frigid and felt wonderful on their overheated bodies. They both took a few deep breaths to try and cool down further.

“Ride should be here in a couple minutes.”

“That was so fun!” Lacey said, her bright smile warming Danny’s heart.

“I had a great time. Next time, you gotta show me a place that you love.” Danny was asking for a second date but put the ball in her court.

“Deal.” Lacey said and walked up for a kiss.

“What was that for?”

“You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever seen and sometimes I just want to kiss that.” Lacey admitted.

“Well, any time I can be of service—“ Danny smiled big.

“You ready for our second date?” Lacey asked boldly.

“Sure, when?”

“Right now.”

Danny cocked his head to the side, he was very intrigued.

“Let me see your phone.” Lacey held her hand out and quickly changed the drop off address for their Uber, “There we go, all set.”

“Where are we going?”

“One of my favorite places.”

Danny kept his attention focused on where Lacey was taking them, their Uber dumping them out at Central Park South.

“Oh this is some rich people shit—“ Danny looked up at the massive luxury skyscrapers.

“C’mon. Hope you brought your big boy panties.” Lacey said confidently and walked them up to the door man, “Hey Eddie.”

“Lacey.” He nodded kindly and reciprocated her fist bump.

“This is my partner, Danny. We’re going up to view seven.”

“Of course, enjoy.”

Lacey took Danny’s hand and pulled him into the elevator, punching in the special code that would bring them to the penthouse.

“Whaaaaat the fuuuuuck—“ Danny marveled at all the glass, the elevator, the walls, everything was see-through.

“Almost there.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to an exclusive floor only accessible with the secret code that Lacey knew by heart.

“Is this a place you have to sell?” Danny walked around like he was on another planet.

“Nope. It’s where one of my developers stays when he’s working in the city. He’s in Dubai on vacation right now.”

“You can just come here whenever you want?”

“He has a calendar he shares with friends and associates and as long as the date is open I can book it and bring my hot dates up here to show them this.” Lacey pressed the button to retract the curtains, giving them a three hundred and sixty degree view of the city at night.

“Holy shit.” Danny was truly stunned.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Lacey gushed, “I love this city.”

“This is incredible.” Danny inched his way along the edge of the apartment, pointing at things and telling Lacey his own stories.

“There’s this too.” Lacey pressed another button that brought down the room divider and revealed a luxurious bed.

Danny did not want to fuck this up, his nerves suddenly washed over him, flooding every fiber of his being.

The room as dark, but the lights from the city surrounding them below gave them both the most romantic under glow. Lacey walked over to him and brought her hands up, slowly unbuttoning Danny’s shirt.

“You’re nervous?” Lacey found his reaction surprising and very sweet.

“I am.” Danny laughed nervously.

“Should we slow down? Save it for another time?”

Danny shook his head no and Lacey continued, pushing his shirt down his arms and reaching for the belt loops on his pants, pulling him closer. His hips bumped against hers gently and both of them felt the jolt of electricity that was always arching between them.

Lacey unfastened the button to Danny’s pants and pushed them to his feet, the toned dancer now standing before her in only boxer briefs and looking like a model.

“Damn.” Lacey couldn’t help it, he was so hot.

“My turn?” Danny asked and circled Lacey’s waist with both hands, Lacey bit her lip and nodded yes.

He was so curious about her body. Danny got offers from people all the time, but had always been in a committed relationship with Regina. Regina was a dancer, she had a nice body, but she was always concerned about staying very very thin. Danny was ready to see something different.

Lacey was the first person he had found himself drawn to physically since their break-up and he wondered if she looked anything like the way he had imagined. Her waist was small, but she had an ass and Danny was definitely ready to see all of that.

Disrobing Lacey was going to be quick, Danny realized, as he slowly unzipped down the length of her dress. He let it fall to the floor behind her and caught his first glimpse of her beautiful body.

“You’re perfect.” Danny gushed in a whisper, closing his eyes briefly and reopening in hopes she was really there, that they were both really doing this.

Lacey reached behind her and took her own bra off, tossing it with the growing heap of their clothes. Now they matched.

Danny wanted to devour her, to suck on her perfect breasts, to touch her and taste her everywhere.

“Let’s get you more relaxed.” Lacey purred before Danny could reconnect his brain to his arms and legs again.

Lacey knelt down at Danny’s feet, looking up at him with her gorgeous face and how the fuck did they get here? How was he this lucky?

“You sure you want to go here?” Danny asked, it was his way of trying to make sure she was comfortable with all this but it came out a little bit as if he wasn’t so sure himself.

Lacey sat back on her heels, recognizing how nervous this perfect, hot as hell man really was and deciding that he was trying to check in with her and not back out.

She knelt up again and leaned forward to place a kiss on his exposed bellybutton, peppering kisses down his happy trail and then outlining his rapidly engorging dick through his underwear with some very greedy hands.

“I’m sure.” Lacey kissed his tip through the fabric, glancing up at Danny’s face, his lips had parted to accommodate his increased demand for oxygen, “You?”

Danny’s cock twitched, “I wanna go here.” He blurted out in over eager confirmation.

Lacey smiled up at him and finally pulled his boxers down. Danny’s cock sprang free and bobbed wildly in her face. She grabbed it and gave his tip a proper kiss this time.

Danny wasn’t as long as Archie, but he was significantly thicker and had more of a curve. She was curious what that would feel like plunging in and out of her.

Lacey stuck her tongue out and licked Danny’s length from his balls up to his tip and back again, never breaking eye contact with him. After her second pass she sucked him into her mouth and got to work.

“Oh my god—“

Danny could not believe this was happening. It took him a minute to really get over the shock and into this place and time with the goddess on her knees in front of him.

He was clean, he smelled so good. Lacey appreciated his manscaping and now knew that they were thankfully on the same page with all of that.

With their stars aligning and her heart having been dehydrated or so long, finding a drink like Danny made Lacey feel this overwhelming want to return every box he had ticked of hers.

She wanted to love this man how he deserved and soak in whatever else he had to offer her in return. He was right, no one had been taking care of her.

She had always done that for herself, and while she was a badass boss bitch, sometimes she craved a little TLC from someone who truly had her back and understood her wants and needs. Danny was that someone tonight.

“I like that—“ Danny praised and lovingly caressed a hand across Lacey’s forehead and around the curve of her jaw, “You’re so beautiful.”

Lacey doubled her effort and got in the zone, bobbing her mouth on his tip and following up with pumping her trusty right hand up and down his length. It had only been two minutes.

“This isn’t fair, I’m close Lace—“

Lacey popped her mouth off and kept her hand active, “One of us has to go first.” She winked and sucked him back in.

Danny took that as a green light to let things flow and not try to hold himself off. His eyes closed again, mouth agape as he just let Lacey literally suck the love right out of him.

“That’s—That’s so good—“ Danny grunted, bringing his hands down to thread through Lacey’s curls before blowing his load into her mouth without further warning and hoping for the best.

To his surprise, she didn’t come up swinging like Regina would have on the few occasions he had failed to warn her. Danny watched Lacey swallow him down and wait patiently for his follow up ooze, cleaning that up with her tongue as well like the fucking Queen she was.

“That escalated quickly.” Danny giggled and pulled Lacey up off the ground and squeezed her tight.

Lacey squeezed him back and watched a calm settle into his face. He was definitely relaxed now and if the heart eyes emoji were a person, Danny would be it.

Danny kissed her, deep and searching. The sour taste of himself on her tongue proving to spark something truly primal inside of him. It was time for him to reciprocate this, to show her how he was feeling.

He pulled back and picked Lacey up, her legs instinctively wrapping around Danny’s naked waist as he carried her over to the bed that he was sure cost more than the annual taxes did on his humble townhome.

Danny climbed onto the bed, Lacey refusing to drop below, clinging onto him like a sloth until he laid down on top of her. She resumed their kiss while Danny’s hands found their way to touch Lacey’s full breasts.

He eventually pried her arms from around his neck and knelt up, his knees resting in between her legs. Danny rubbed her smooth skin and rested his palms on her kneecaps. Lacey playfully squeezed her bent knees together to hug him as he surveyed her beautiful body.

Danny’s hands slid from her knees down the outside of her thighs, his hands circling her waist again, thumbs pressing into her hip bones and squeezing gently. He repeated this massage path until Lacey’s core began to rise up in search of more.

Danny grinned wickedly and hitched his thumbs along the edge of her panties, all of his other fingers following suit and curling around the inside edge and pulling them down Lacey’s endless legs.

Danny repeated the path again, this time stopping when he circled back to her kneecaps to split her legs open. She watched his eyes drop and return to connect with her, lust now mixing with the awe that had been there moments ago.

Danny crawled forward and kissed her lips, trailing his kiss down to her chin, then to her neck. He kissed the valley between her breasts before working her left nipple into a stiff peak and doing the same to her right. He wasted no time kissing her belly and her belly button—just as she had done to him.

Lacey’s head rolled to the side so she could watch him as he approached her perfectly waxed strip. He kissed her there too, his eyes traveling up to meet hers again so he could confirm it was okay to keep going. She didn’t stop him.

Danny licked a lubricating swatch over the entire area he intended to infiltrate and then latched his mouth onto Lacey’s lower lips before moving to suck her clit alone.

“Mmmph!” Lacey groaned and squirmed both closer to him and then further away from him, as if it were too much and not quite enough all at once.

Danny tolerated her squirming for maybe all of thirty seconds before he pinned her hips down so he could focus his ministrations to make this really good for her.

Try as she might, she couldn’t move. She rebelled and pulled at his hair, her volume and her tugging growing and seceding like waves in the ocean.

“You’re good at this—“ Lacey panted.

He ate her, he licked her, he sucked her. Judging by her body language, she was so close to finally coming and Danny was fucking here for it.

He brought his left hand up and got his thumb involved with more pressure on Lacey’s clit than his tongue could deliver.

“Ohh, yes—“ Lacey liked that.

Danny toggled between rubbing and sucking, finally milking her clit with his lips and making her whole body jerk and her whimpering cease.

Once Lacey opened her eyes again, Danny crawled up her body and kissed her like she was the answer to everything that had ever been missing in his whole life.

They enjoyed this kiss more than any others they had had to date, Lacey’s lingering essence now mixed with his sent them both into a need at a level that neither of them had experienced before.

Sure, sex with Archie and Regina wasn’t bad, but this was new, deeper, different. Love was creeping into both of their minds, but this was too new and it needed more time to lay it’s roots before they began shouting it from the rooftops.

“I could get used to that.” Lacey took a turn caressing Danny’s face.

Danny’s junk was back in the game at this point and their explorations of each other had truly settled his nerves. He so wanted to keep going but wasn’t sure how far Lacey had planned for this to go.

Lacey could feel Danny’s dick incessantly poking at her inner thigh, his curve really boasting a significant jab that she was sure he hadn’t realized was even happening.

She needed to make sure they were prepared before he got any closer to sliding in. The last thing either of them were ready for was creating a child they were in no way ready to care for.

Lacey pushed Danny back gently and stood, heading over to her dress and fiddling with the zippered pockets. Danny watched her from the bed, assuming he was seeing his answer to where they would draw the line for the night redressing right in front of him.

Instead, Lacey fished out the condom she had tucked into her pocket and tossed the dress back onto the floor. She returned to the bed and crawled in, pressing the foil circle into Danny’s left pec as she looked Danny’s incredible body up and down again. She wanted him.

Danny brought his hand up to take the condom from her, taking the opportunity to kiss said hand like the fucking gentleman he was. He didn’t need to ask her if she was sure or waste time wondering about birth control, etc.

Lacey always crossed her t’s and dotted her i’s and this was happening. She took the condom back from him, tore it open and rolled it on, accepting his brazen, filthy kisses as she did.

“Oh hell yes—“ Danny wanted in so bad.

“Lay down, big guy. I get first round.” Lacey instructed and Danny collapsed onto his back and accepted Lacey straddling his waist.

Lacey rotated her hips around and teased him, showing him how she liked to ride. Danny loved that and rubbed up and down her thighs as he watched the show.

“In.” Lacey commanded and Danny reached down and lined himself up.

Lacey sunk down and bounced gingerly as she stretched around him.

“Damn.” They both said at the same.

Lacey worked him out. Danny groaned and grasped at her, taking turns crunching upward so she could hold onto the back of his neck and grind against him properly and collapsing back and watching her bounce for him.

Danny chanced a hard smack to her ass at one point, Lacey responding with a swift swat of her own.

“No, none of that.”

“What about this?” Danny squeezed her ass, lifting her cheeks up a little so she could take him even deeper.

“Fuck—I like that.” She sat down as far as she could and took him to the hilt.

“Oh shit—“

He watched Lacey work to get herself there, her hips eventually becoming sloppy and erratic. Danny aided her just before she finished with a firm rub to her clit.

“Yes, Danny—“ Lacey got exactly what she was looking for, a big fucking O from the incredible body beneath her.

When her shudders stopped he rolled them and took his turn dominating her. Danny knew what he had between his legs. His special brand of curve was a blessing.

He twisted Lacey’s hips to the side and pressed her top leg up toward her belly in preparation of showing her what it was all about.

Danny’s dancer’s body and natural rhythm made Lacey’s eyes roll over and over as he continued on his mission. He rocked in deeper and deeper until he was leaning all of his weight into her and absorbing the scratches she was leaving down his back.

“You can fuck—“ Lacey noted as he continued his punishing thrusts, “C’mon—“ Lacey reached down and grabbed Danny’s ass as he rutted against her.

Then he was there, suddenly so close to the end and frustrated this was almost over. He pulled Lacey’s hands away from his ass and slammed them above her head as he slapped his body against hers.

“I need this. I need it—“ Danny shamelessly panted in her ear, “Thank you for giving it to me—“

That was enough for Lacey, Danny’s lusty voice causing her to throw her head back and scream a healthy version of what he assumed was his name, her voice drowned out by his own expletives as he unloaded hard into the condom he hoped was still intact.

Their crescendos grew eerily quiet as their peaks came and went along with them. Danny nodded as he connected with the pure pleasure that spread across Lacey’s face. He felt it too.

“We are a fucking match.” Danny exhaled and sucked her neck briefly, nuzzling her and just being a general sweetheart.

Danny pulled out gracefully and inspected the condom that was still perfectly and snugly seated exactly where Lacey had left it. He pulled it off and ran to toss it out and pull his boxers back on before joining Lacey in the bed again.

“Be with me?” Danny asked tenderly, matching their palms up absently. Measuring and marveling at her smaller, feminine, yet no less powerful hands.

“We can’t do this stuff at home.”

Danny began nodding before she could even finish objecting.

“Understood. Just be with me?” He tried again.

Lacey covered her face and her tiny excited smile that crept onto it, why not, she thought. It felt right.

“Okay.” She squeaked out. Damnit she was so cute.

“Yeah?” Danny smiled then too.

Lacey nodded, “Mm-hm. Yes.”

Danny collapsed his forehead against her shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment, silently thanking her for making him excited about life again. Lacey was thinking the same thing.


	11. Chapter 11

“Thanks again, Eddie.” Lacey waved to her doorman friend as her and Danny exited the luxury building to wait for their ride.

Danny grabbed ahold of Lacey’s hand as they waited, something Lacey was beginning to realize was a thing for him. He was always playing with her hands.

“When are you going to tell Clara about us?” Danny asked, intertwining their fingers together the way couples do.

Lacey politely pulled her hand back and tucked them in under her armpits, definitely exaggerating her attempt at keeping herself warm. She just needed to connect with herself, regain some control she felt she had somehow lost in the five minutes it took them to get from the penthouse down to the sidewalk.

Danny noticed, but wasn’t sure exactly how to address it or even if he should. Lacey was a type A kind of person, always in control. He knew she was used to having lots of time to herself and although they had just blown each other’s minds, perhaps the reality of suddenly adding a new relationship to her life wasn’t feeling right anymore.

“Do you want to tell her?”

“Of course.” Lacey said unconvincingly, “Man, I am starving—“ She changed the subject but honestly, Danny was hungry too.

“You’re like a cat I’m trying to force into a bathtub.” 

That was definitely not the best way to address it.

“Come again?” Lacey shot him a confused look.

Danny pointed to the top of the skyscraper, “Is the air different up there maybe?” He had already insulted her, why stop now?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you never wanted to have sex with me ever again—“

“Who said that?”

“Pretty sure you just called me a stupid, dirty cat? If you’ve got something to say Danny just fucking spit it out.”

Danny sighed and took a minute before responding, “I’m worried about this.” He moved his hand between them, “Us.”

Lacey rolled her eyes, “Fine, then why did you even ask me to be in a relationship—again—“ She dragged out the last word like he had been a long suffering fool about it.

“My mother would randomly pop into my life, show me how great she was at stuff. She’d even love me sometimes, tell me how proud she was of me, give me hugs, and I’d soak it in every time.” Danny trailed off, his mind obviously remembering every detail.

Lacey waited silently, apparently it was his turn to have a mother memory that brought him to his knees. They had more in common than she realized.

“And then it’s like this switch would flip. She’d pull away, be suddenly so busy we wouldn’t talk for days, weeks. Eventually I just stopped expecting anything from her at all, so now whenever she decides to be a loving mother it’s only a positive thing that adds to my life. All the days in between I’m just living my life while she lives hers.”

“Is this you telling me I’m like your mother, who’s also a stupid, dirty cat?”

“I’m trying to tell you that I’m scared. I’m looking for a partner, someone I know will give me everything I’m giving them. I’d like it to be you.”

“You’re telling me you’re already feeling lopsided because I don’t want to hold your hand? Jesus Danny, I just had your dick in my mouth—“

“I saw you work in the car, you have a job you never get a break from.”

“Oh!” Lacey’s eyes went wide, she pulled out her phone and turned the notifications on again, “Thanks for reminding me.” 

Danny watched Lacey get sucked back into her life. He sighed and just gave up. Lacey glanced over at his disappointed face, doing a double take.

“Listen, I’m not your mother, okay? I’m not bailing, I’m just a very busy person. You already know this about me. I work hard,” Lacey walked up into Danny’s personal space, “I play hard.” She kissed him.

Danny kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her in equal parts happiness and relief. The blaring of the car horn from their Uber waiting beside them broke them apart.

“I’m sorry I called you a dirty cat.” Danny muttered as they slid inside.

“It’s okay, I think you were right about the air up there though.” Lacey giggled, “Let’s get some food.”

******

“Keep your hands to yourself.” Lacey moved Danny’s hands, the one that was wrapped around her right butt cheek and the one that had a grip on her left breast.

“It doesn’t count if it’s over your pajamas.” Danny groaned as his lips searched for hers again, “Besides, you’re literally sitting in my lap and grinding your shit all over my shit—“

Lacey rolled her hips again, “Should I stop?”

“You’re going to make my come in my pants if you don’t.”

“So that’s a no?”

“Please let me take you upstairs?” Danny begged.

They had found a burger place, stuffed themselves and had taken full showers in anticipation of crashing, but something had them wide awake: the prospect of having more incredible sex while they still had the chance. With Lacey’s boundaries clear, they had settled for making out on the couch.

Danny grunted when Lacey lined herself up along his shaft through their pajamas and rubbed a little too fast for a little too long.

“Please, god, please—“ He kept his hands off of her and could only watch as she got him closer and closer, “What time is she coming back?”

“Ten AM.”

“So we have eight whole hours.” Danny wanted to grab her so bad, rub her, anything, “Fuck, I want you.”

“How close are you?”

“Less than a minute if you keep it up.” Danny couldn’t take it and reached up to hold her still, “I got it when we were just roommates—“ Danny kissed her neck and made her moan, “But you’re my girlfriend now—“ He moved her hips again, torturing himself.

Danny crept his hand inside her pants so he could get some skin to skin contact directly with her clit.

“Shit—“ Lacey liked that.

Danny’s hips moved to meet each of Lacey’s rocks against him. He had the best rhythm, dancers fucking ruled.

“Danny—“ Lacey begged his name without having to add the please.

Danny slid his hand away and stood with Lacey still wrapped around him. He marched with her over to the stairs and up to his room as fast as he could.

He didn’t crawl onto the bed this time, instead peeling Lacey off of him and tossing her down before pulling his pajamas off. 

“Tell me to stop and I will.” He challenged her and yanked her pajama bottoms off, no underwear. That fucking did it.

Danny dragged Lacey to the edge of the bed and dove his face in between her legs. He held her core close, his hands gripping and lifting her ass just for this sole purpose.

“Don’t waste time, I’m already warmed up—“ Lacey choked out as she held onto Danny’s sheets for dear life.

Danny plopped her down and wrangled a condom from his stash. He tore the packet open with his teeth and rolled it on expertly, his eyes never leaving Lacey’s half-naked body.

“I don’t want to overstep your boundaries, you only had two—“ Danny really didn’t want to mess this up.

“Just tonight, I promise I won’t be upset later.”

“You might be, this is about to last maybe sixty seconds.” Danny chuckled.

“I told you I’m already warmed up—“ Lacey pulled him on top of her and he did as he was told. 

She held her knees back at first so Danny had plenty of room to work. Danny loved that and entered her happily. Once he got going he slid his hands under her pajama top and bunched it up so he could kiss her nipples.

“Relax.” He pried her hands from behind her knees.

Danny opened his legs wider and rocked himself against Lacey’s clit every time he pushed forward. Lacey had full control of his ass while he did this, pulling him in deeper and using her leverage to grind herself against him harder.

“How is it better than before?” Lacey panted, “I’m—“

“I can feel that.” Danny smiled down at her, “You feel so good.” He nodded and just stared at her in wonder as she crested over and through another climax of his doing.

Just as the feeling faded for her, Danny took his turn and leaned his upper body against hers, using her entrance to milk just his tip in and out of her. His face was now smooshed in beside her head, breathing erratically as he worked to get himself there.

“Roll over.” Lacey suggested, “Let me take care of you—“

Danny accepted her offer and pulled her up as he rolled onto his back. Lacey didn’t miss a beat and got her ass moving at the same pace he was trying for. She finally got the chance to rub his chest and run her fingers down his abs, damn he was fine.

“I thought you said sixty seconds?” Lacey winked at her perfect boyfriend.

“I’ve always been an over achiever.” Danny huffed, “Just like that, Lacey—“ 

Lacey kept her pace, squeezing herself tight as she rode him the way he so badly needed.

“What was that—“ 

“What?” Lacey smiled big, “This?” Lacey squeezed her core again as tight as she could, “I work out.”

Danny could no longer control all of his bodily functions at once any more, his legs melted into the mattress and he couldn’t keep his mouth closed.

“Do that again.” He managed.

Lacey squeezed again and held it, rolling up onto her feet and bouncing for him at the same time.

“FUCK!” Danny guided her hips a little faster, Lacey still clenching herself tight, “I’m coming—“ Danny’s voice faded and his eyes slanted into tiny slits as he bucked up into her with zero rhythm.

He pulled Lacey down into his arms and kissed wherever his lips could reach, just enjoying holding her close while his breathing evened out.

“That was incredible.” Danny smiled and nuzzled his face into her hair.

“We can’t do this Danny.” Lacey’s head was back from lust land and she was suddenly dead serious.

“I hear you. Listen, she’s not here. We won’t do this here again unless we have a confirmed day when we know for sure she’ll be away.”

“I don’t want to start wishing for that. She’s my sister, this is her home. It just can’t be weird, it can’t. This is her soft place to fall—“

“I have to say that being with you this way has been unreal, but I’m pretty sure you can see that don’t have an issue with discipline. I’ll wait, I’m happy to wait, as long as I know we’re in the same place.” Danny laced his fingers with hers.

“Thank you, yes, we’re in the same place.”

“One last favor tonight?” Danny asked sweetly.

“Tonight? It’s already three AM, buddy—“

“Sleep here. Don’t go back to your room, please? I want to be close to you.”

Lacey rolled over and backed herself into him as the little spoon. Their second go at making love tonight was far superior to the first. The hesitation and awkwardness was gone and left only their desire and a new level of inhibition. They really were an excellent match.

“Good night, Danny.”

“Good night.” Danny kissed the back of Lacey’s head.

Danny covered them up, still naked and sweaty and pulled her close, his breathing falling in sync with hers until their symbiosis lulled them both into a blissful sleep.

******

Lacey awoke several hours later to the sound of knocking. She assumed it was one of the neighbors since they were not expecting anyone to be stopping by. She glanced at her phone anyway: seven AM and no messages from Clara or her friend’s parents.

She tried to ignore it, but the knocking became incessant, almost constant. Lacey squirmed more and more as her frustration grew. 

“Danny can you please go see who that is?” She grumbled, her voice coming out tiny and rough at the same time.

When he didn’t respond she rolled over and realized she was alone in bed. Did he get locked out? Her delirious brain tried to make sense of it all. She finally heard the shower running and determined that Danny must be in the bathroom.

“Okay, I guess I’ll get it.” She said to herself.

She didn’t bother getting dressed, she just wrapped Danny’s duvet around her naked body and dragged herself out of bed to go put out whatever fire was brewing outside.

Lacey was from the city and one doesn’t just open the door for anyone who comes knocking. She tiptoed up to the peephole and looked out to find a tiny, well-kept blonde woman knocking rather angrily. 

“What the hell?” Lacey didn’t recognize her, but she also didn’t look like she was on drugs or there to rob them either.

Lacey made sure the chain was latched on the door and opened it a crack. The blonde woman startled and squinted at Lacey in confusion.

“Can I help you?” Lacey asked in a truly accusatory tone. 

This bitch did just make her wake up hours earlier than she needed to be on one of her only days off in months. Danny had finally gotten her to relax and took her out of her ultra structured world and this lady just ripped it away from her.

The woman sputtered a little and took a step back to check the number on the side of their door. Lacey looked back at her just as puzzled, repositioning her blanket and trying not to call attention to her lack of clothing.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” The woman asked.

“I’m going with no.” Lacey answered sarcastically.

“Why are you answering the door?”

“Because you were knocking?” Maybe this lady was on drugs and just really cared about her appearance too.

“Are you going to let me in?”

“No.” Lacey laughed, who did this bitch think she was?

“Are you answering the door just wrapped in a blanket?”

“Listen lady, you decided to knock on the door to my house at seven in the morning on my day off, you’re lucky I’m wearing anything at all.”

“YOUR house?”

“Is there something you needed or am I going to have to call the police?” 

Lacey was used to dealing with high stress situations and had to problem solve on the fly, dealing with some lost looney-toon was a cake walk.

“You let me in this house this minute or I am the one who will be calling the police.” The woman threatened.

“I’m in my own house! Who the hell are you?!”

“That would be my mother.” Danny said calmly and regretfully from somewhere behind Lacey.


	12. Chapter 12

“Excuse me.” 

Lacey closed the door gently and stepped back so Danny could slide the chain lock off. Danny paused and gave her a nod. 

Lacey took off running as best she could with Danny’s huge duvet wrapped around her. He waited until she made it upstairs before finally opening the door.

“Morning mother. Thank you as always for calling before you come for a visit.”

“It’s about time.” Danny’s mother stormed in, eyes obviously looking for the woman who had answered the door, “And don’t talk to me like that, I will come as I please.” 

Danny took a deep cleansing breath in and out as he watched his mother drag in her overnight bag along with her.

“Coffee?” He asked, not even trying to continue this losing battle.

“Fun night?” 

“Mum—“

“She’s charming.” She said sarcastically.

Lacey was listening intently, her door wide open as she dressed as fast as possible.

“Lacey’s wonderful.” Danny smiled as he prepared two cups of coffee and one cup of tea.

“Lacey. Sounds like trash.”

“Well, mother, your name is Karen.” Danny reminded her.

Karen sighed, defeated by the stigma now attached to her name, “Yes well, I can see your point.”

Danny slid the fresh coffee to his mother and let Lacey’s tea steep. Karen watched him intently.

“You’re always up by five to practice.” 

“I slept in today.” Danny shrugged.

“That’s not like you. You need to keep putting in the work. Was this Lacey’s idea?”

“Mum, leave her be.”

Lacey was frustrated that Danny was staying so neutral with her. She understood that all he wanted was to absorb her love and let the rest lie, but Lacey wasn’t about to let anyone walk all over her like that.

Lacey shook out her curls and adjusted her outfit, a cream colored sweater and black leggings. She looked comfy, bright and wholesome. Fuck Karen if she thought she was trash. 

“Good morning.” Lacey greeted with a neutral face. She meant the sentiment but wasn’t going to fake being happy for anyone.

“Morning.” Danny smiled.

Lacey skimmed by him and gave him a quick peck before Danny would release the cup of tea he was holding hostage for her.

“Mmm, thanks Danny.” Lacey took a healthy sip.

“Lacey, this is my mother, Karen. Mum, this is my girlfriend, Lacey.”

“I believe we met briefly—“ Lacey smiled, hoping to start again.

“Girlfriend?” Karen looked to Danny for clarification.

“It’s new.” Danny answered simply.

“It must be, I talked to you a couple days ago—“

Lacey checked her bare wrist for the time and looked at Karen, “Like seven hours ago new.” She smiled. 

“I thought you were working things out with Regina—“

“Is that what she said?” Danny looked at his mother like she should know better, “When’s the last time you spoke with her?”

“She’s such a nice girl.” 

“Mum, Regina is my dance partner at work. Lacey is my girlfriend. That’s it.”

“I’m curious, what does Regina’s name sound like?” Lacey asked.

“I’m sorry?” Karen acted like she was so lost.

“Well, Lacey sounds like trash to you, I was just curious what you thought Regina sounded like.”

Danny lifted his mug to hide his smile and took a few well-timed sips, it was coffee, but it was also tea.

“Regina sounds like an old worn out horse’s name.” Karen shrugged before she sipped her coffee too, “But since she’s not, I know you’re not trash either. I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry.” Karen said sincerely.

“Okay. Danny, I’m going to get some things prepared for when Clara comes home, I know she’ll be starving.” Lacey announced as she rummaged around the kitchen, surprised she just got an apology from Danny’s mom.

“Want help?”

“I’m just cutting up fruit, I think I’m good.” 

Karen looked between the two of them, waiting for more elaboration

“Lacey moved in a little while ago.” 

“Moved in?” Karen was stunned.

“Danny was so kind to open up his home for us. I had to be out of my rental and didn’t have enough time to close on a new property before Christmas.”

“Who’s us? Do you have a child?”

“No ma’am, Clara is my little sister.”

“She lives with you?”

“Yes.”

“Clara is a star in the youth program at the theatre. She’s truly such a talented dancer.”

As Lacey pulled out some produce she could feel Karen’s eyes all over her. Didn’t Danny say she was an event planner? She must have more interpersonal skills than this. Lacey was used to dealing with lots of bitchy people in her profession and knew the best way to handle this was head on.

“I apologize for being rude at the door, Mrs. Desai. I didn’t realize—“

“That I was Danny’s mom? Yeah, we don’t really look alike do we.” Karen smiled at her son, “Danny looks just like his father.” She gushed.

An awkward silence grew as they all thought about Danny’s father in different ways.

“Anyway, it’s fine. I suppose we all judge a little too quickly sometimes.” Karen gave Lacey a small smile.

“Mum, you brought a bag?”

“Well my schedule cleared up and I thought I’d come stay through Christmas. I didn’t realize you had a full house.”

“You would have known that if you had called first.” Danny shrugged.

Clara burst through the door surprising them all, her friend right behind her helping to drag in her overnight stuff and then running back out to her waiting mom.

“Hey, Danny!” Clara gave him a squeeze since he was the closest.

“Hey, CC!” He hugged her back, “Have a good time?”

“Yep!” She beamed and then connected with Karen, “Oh, hello—“ Clara smiled politely and looked over at Lacey. The last time a white lady sat in their house with a smile like that she was told her mother had died.

“Clara, this is Danny’s mom, Mrs. Desai.” Lacey introduced them and reduced Clara’s anxiety by half.

“Oh, you can both call me Karen—“

“Nice to meet you.” Clara smiled back, “Your mom’s beautiful.” Clara said quietly to Danny.

“I think so too.” Danny gave her a nod.

“Can we have a Christmas party?” Clara asked all of the adults in her life at the same time.

“A party? That sounds like fun!” Karen agreed almost immediately upon the suggestion.

“Oh dear.” Danny knew his mom would take this and run with it.

Lacey smiled to herself and continued cutting up the fruit.

“We’ll decorate more!” Karen stood and looked around.

“Yeah! We can invite the Company and Archie and Whitney and all of my friends!” Clara and Karen’s energy began feeding off of each other.

“That’s a great idea! We could decorate cookies?” Karen suggested.

“Oh! Can we have a gingerbread house contest?!” Clara upped the stakes.

“Yes!” Karen pointed at her and the two of them high-fived in the middle of Danny’s living room.

“Want to see my pirouettes?!” Clara asked Karen in a random bid for more of her motherly attention.

“Oh, absolutely!” Karen didn’t hesitate and followed Clara down into Danny’s finished basement dance studio.

“What just happened?” Lacey shook her head as Danny walked up to stand beside her.

“I think we’re having a Christmas party.” Danny chuckled.

******

“I like her. I like them both.” Karen smiled softly at her only child.

“I do too.”

Danny and his mom worked to remake the bed for Karen in the room Lacey had been staying in while Lacey dragged her stuff up to the loft to prepare to bunk with her sister for a few days.

“Is it serious?”

“For me it is, yes. I hope Lacey feels the same way.”

“You’re okay with raising a child?”

Danny shrugged, “You’ve met her, she’s a pretty spectacular kid.”

“I agree, she’s an exceptional dancer too. She could learn a lot from you.” Karen watched a flurry of thoughts cycle through Danny’s head, “Why are you holding back?”

“Lacey’s a very busy person.” Danny said carefully, “Like you.” He wasn’t trying to hurt his mother he just wanted her to understand what a big thing that was for him.

Karen nodded, “She’s goal oriented and she has the motivation to follow it through. Those are all wonderful traits to have.”

“I’m worried we’ll grow apart, or never fully grow together.”

“Your father tried everything to get me to stop working, including embezzling all that money. He figured if we could afford to live a comfortable life I would finally stay home.” Karen shook her head, “That’s not who I am and his decision ended up ensuring we’d never be together again. I’m telling you, don’t try to change her.”

“You think it’s worth trying?”

“That’s a question for you. If you think so, you need to accept her the way she is. If what Clara has told me is true about her parents, you need to make sure that if you commit to being a part of her life, you better be prepared to stay there.”

“You sure you’re ready to be a grandmother because Clara might be it.”

“I’m ready whenever you’re ready, and I’d be very happy with that.”

Danny nodded in deep thought as he fluffed the pillows.

******

“Why are you bringing your stuff up here?” Clara looked horrified.

“Karen is staying in my room while she’s in town, I thought it would be fun to stay up here with you!” Lacey tried to sound excited.

“Nooo, no no. You know I need my own space, Lacey. It takes me forever to fall asleep—“ 

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll figure something else out.” Lacey refolded her blankets, “Danny and I are together now.”

“Really?!” Clara seemed surprised.

“Yes. What do you think about it?” Lacey gnawed at the edge of her lip.

“I think it’s awesome! Karen’s the coolest, I have been really happy here. I’m happy for you.” Clara hugged her sister, Lacey clinging to every word, not realizing how badly she needed to hear her say that.

“Thanks, C.”

“Good night, Lacey.”

******

Lacey tiptoed down the stairs and past the smaller bedroom. Sure she could have insisted on sleeping in the loft, but remembering how comfortable Danny’s bed was last night sent her down to see what else they could come up with.

She knocked gently on his door.

“Come in.” Lacey heard softly from the other side.

“Hey.” Lacey smiled, watching Danny doing crunches on the floor.

“Hey.” He kept going, watching as Lacey took a seat on the end of his bed, “Nine hundred ninety-niiiine, one thousand.” He exhaled dramatically.

Lacey giggled at him and helped him off the floor. Danny grabbed the bottom edge of his shirt and yanked it off. Lacey reached for him, running her hands along his abs and behind him up his strong back.

“I like your body.” Lacey said absently, her simple declaration making Danny’s whole body react.

“Same.” He smiled down at her.

“Sooo—“ Lacey pulled him closer, his perfect abs at eye-level with her still sitting on the bed. Her hands went straight for them and then around to his ass.

“So?”

“I am homeless.” She rested her cheek against his happy trail.

Danny ran his hands through her curls, adding more and more pressure to her scalp with the pads of his fingers. Lacey loved a good scalp massage and squeezed him tighter in appreciation.

“I’m aware.”

“I mean while your mom’s here. Clara just kicked me out, she’s a light sleeper.” Lacey turned her face up and rested her chin on the edge of Danny’s pants, her bottom lip jutting out in mock sadness.

Danny laughed, his hands moving to frame her face.

“Couch?” 

He knew where he wanted her to stay, but also knew his chances were something close to zero. Lacey pulled back, Danny catching her hands and pulling her to her feet and into his arms.

“You want me to stay on the couch?”

“Nope.” Danny said with so much certainty that Lacey’s crotch erupted.

Danny smashed their lips together and devoured them passionately. Lacey was like a rabid animal, her tongue doing all kinds of things her tongue had never done before.

“Where do you want me then?” She asked innocently, watching Danny’s eyes darken.

Danny pulled her head to the side and licked Lacey’s neck, moving up until he sucked an earlobe into his mouth.

“You’re in my bed.” He marched her back until her legs hit the bed and they fell backward.

Danny wasted no time pulling their clothes off.

“Danny, we have to be quiet.”

Danny held a finger to his own lips and grabbed Lacey’s waist, pulling her to the edge.

“I can be quiet.” He hushed against her lips, “Can you?”

Danny split Lacey’s legs apart and got to work, his face happily licking and sucking his girlfriend’s perfect V area. Lacey relaxed into Danny’s bed, bringing her hands down to play with his beautiful hair. 

She climaxed silently, her feet pushing Danny away from her sensitive nub by his shoulders when she finally came down. Danny bit her inner thigh playfully before bouncing up and rummaging for a condom from his bedside drawer.

“Belly.” 

“If they hear us—“ Lacey shook her head.

Danny swirled his finger though the air, ignoring her anxiety and silently asking her again to roll over.

Lacey did and Danny crawled up behind her to straddle her thighs. He rolled the condom on and reached down to line himself up from behind.

Danny massaged her ass lovingly, rubbing down her curves a bit before laying on top of her and sliding his face in next to hers.

He pushed in slowly, his mouth hanging, eyes on hers.

“That curve—“ Lacey whispered.

“You like that?”

Lacey nodded.

“Sex every day is healthy.” Danny winked at her.

“What about twice a day?” Lacey whimpered as he pumped her faster.

“You want this dick twice a day?”

Danny squeezed her ass and slapped himself against her, his balls making a satisfying thwack with each impact.

“Yes, please.” She said and Danny thought it was the sexiest thing he had ever heard leave her lips.

“Jesus—“

Lacey reached behind her and rubbed Danny’s knees, his thighs, anything she could get her hands on. Danny lifted off of her a bit and held her shoulders, tugging her down against him in a perfect counter-rhythm.

Lacey liked that and threw her ass back, trying to reciprocate his intensity but having trouble since he had basically pinned her down.

“That’s a beautiful thing—“ Danny huffed quietly, loving watching her ass help bury his dick deeper.

Danny felt her pussy dance around him when she came. She was right, she could be quiet and he tried his best when his time arrived less than a minute later. He couldn’t help the grunts, but at least he wasn’t shouting.

“Shower?” Danny asked as he slid himself out.

Lacey rolled out of bed, her legs a little wobbly. Danny caught her and kissed her sweetly before they tried walking any further.

“You okay?” He asked, knowing full well her current handicap was all his fault.

“You’re incredible in bed.” Lacey admitted into Danny’s ear.

Danny grabbed her naked ass and rubbed it lovingly, pulling her along behind him and into his shower.

He lathered her up and rinsed her off, Lacey taking over and doing the same for him. Ten minutes into their shower, Danny wanted nothing more than to be back inside of her. 

Danny sucked her neck on the spot he knew she liked, careful not to leave marks. He grabbed her hands and stuck them to the glass shower wall in front of her and pulled her ass in closer to him..

Danny leaned forward and bit her shoulder and wrapped his hands around her waist tightly, his hips gently smacking into her backside and simulating what he wanted to do with her.

“Condom.” Lacey reminded him.

Danny slid his slick hand down the front of Lacey’s body, tweaking her nipple and then sliding in a straight path between her legs. He rubbed her clit and continued to pulse behind her, his curved cock tapping near her entrance, driving both of them insane.

“Danny—“

“Hmm?” Danny rubbed her harder, he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Please—“

“Please what?”

“Please—“

“I don’t have condoms in here.” He held her hip tight.

“We can’t play, not like that.” Lacey knew she had to be strong enough for the both of them.

“Some day I want you just like this.” He kissed her lower back and reached to turn the water off.

Danny pulled her close, kissed her again.

“I’m freezing.” He reached for a couple towels and the two of them dried off.

Lacey pulled on a set of Danny’s pajamas and they snuggled in next to each other, their limbs and bodies finding new ways to intertwine.

“My mom likes you.” Danny proclaimed, their faces inches apart, “Means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me.” He squeezed her tight.

“This is going somewhere, isn’t it.” Lacey wondered out loud, still shocked by how easy and right it all felt.

“I know I’m headed somewhere, real quick.” Danny’s eyes twinkled and Lacey knew she was ready for all of it.


	13. Chapter 13

Danny was awoken Sunday morning to Lacey dragging his boxers down and slipping his cock into her mouth.

“What are you doing to me?” Danny groaned, half awake and fully engorged with his morning situation.

Danny submitted to the process and just laid back and let it happen. His fingers eventually wound their way into Lacey’s hair, gripping lightly, his knees splayed wide.

A couple minutes later, Lacey rolled a condom onto him and climbed up his body. Danny could finally see that she was completely naked.

“Good morning.” She whispered and spread her knees apart so he could watch her mount.

Danny moved them so he could sit up against his headboard, his hands grabbing her ass greedily. Lacey’s center was wet and overheated and felt incredible.

Lacey wrapped her fingers around the edge of the headboard behind him and rode him like he’d never been fucked before.

“Oh fucking hell—“

“I like mornings.” Lacey panted by his ear before giving it a gentle bite, her hips rolling and rolling.

“Keep that shit up—“ Danny tried not to sound like a cave man, but his brain was not firing on all cylinders yet and his girlfriend was giving it to him so good.

Lacey kept it up, coming how she designed and seeing him through until he held her hips down and nutted deep, thankful Lacey had been coherent enough to put the condom on.

“Wow. What did I do to deserve that?”

“Just taking care of us. I do that.” Lacey shrugged, beaming like the ray of sunshine she truly was.

Danny held her, her center still straddling his lap. Damn, it felt so good to be with her. Lacey rested against him, Danny’s fingers gently stroking up and down her back.

“Is this really what it’s like with you?”

“Well, the good sex takes two—“

“Not that, I’m talking about you. You’re amazing. You’re always thinking ahead and planning. You’re motivated and successful. You’re always thinking of your sister and how things might affect her, you’ve been thinking about me and what I might want and need—you’re just everything I’ve wanted in a partner and lots of things I didn’t even realize that I needed too.”

“Aww, Danny. You’re sappy in the morning.” Lacey smiled and kissed his forehead.

“Why’d he let you go?” Danny asked the universe quietly, his sleepy eyes drinking in her features.

“Hey now, he didn’t get a choice. He wasn’t it so I let him go, don’t get it twisted.”

“You’ll let me know the things you don’t like so we can work on it, right? Please, I want this with you for a long time.”

“Like I said last night, this is going somewhere for me and I’m letting it take me. I’m riding this happiness all the way to the bank and I’m taking you with me, for as long as it lasts.”

“As long as it lasts. I like that.” Danny kissed her hands.

“Now stop being a smoldering heap of sex so I can get ready for my day, damn.” Lacey climbed off of him and shimmied back into her loaned jammies.

“Me?! You’re the one who can’t get enough of the D.”

“This is true.” Lacey giggled and exited his room en route to get dressed up in the loft.

******

Clara wasn’t up there. Her little sister wasn’t a trouble maker by nature so she didn’t panic, but at the same time, Clara was never up this early and Lacey wondered what she was up to.

Lacey made quick work of dressing: woolly tights, corduroy skirt and another cozy sweater. She found her suede boots and smiled thinking she was basically a sensory vision board and knew Danny would be tempted to touch her and all of the different textures she had on.

As she made her way to the top of the stairs, the whole house smelled like cinnamon and vanilla.

“The trick is the lemon.” Karen said happily.

“Hey you two, what are you up to down here?” Lacey greeted her sister, hoping all was well.

“We’re making coffee cake!” Clara sounded happy.

“You’re up so early—“ Lacey tried again.

“I came to find you and then I forgot you weren’t in your room and I woke Karen up by mistake. I didn’t know where to find you so we decided to make breakfast.”

“You’re right, that was my fault. I forgot to tell you where I was sleeping. I’m sorry.” Lacey never wanted Clara to ever feel like she as alone or wasn’t wanted or that she had been abandoned.

“It’s okay, Karen knows how to bake, we’re having fun!”

“Karen, I’m so sorry she woke you, thank you.”

“No need, we’ve only been up for a half hour and I am sure this wonderful young lady would have just gone back to bed if I hadn’t been there.” Karen smiled like a mom would and Lacey needed that just as much as Clara did, “You’re doing an amazing job with her.” Karen said off to the side.

“Thank you.”

“Sleep well?” Karen gave her a glance.

Lacey couldn’t help but smile, “I did.”

“Okay, c’mon Lacey, you’re in charge of icing.” Karen decided and hooked her up with the hand mixer.

Danny finally made it downstairs just as Clara sprinkled the sugared nuts on top of Lacey’s perfect icing job.

“Oh man, look at this! Can I have some of that?” Danny asked, walking up to Lacey and giving her a quick kiss.

“Can we cut it now?” Clara asked Karen and they both cut it up together.

Clara served Danny the first piece and he took a giant bite, “Holy cow, you made this?!”

Clara beamed, “Yes!” She said proudly, “Karen helped, Lacey did the icing.”

“The cake is perfect Clara, well done.” Danny gave her a thumbs up.

“Thank you.”

“Clara, you have to go get ready now, I have clients today and you’ll have to come with me.”

“Okay.” Clara nodded, gobbling her coffee cake quickly and running up the stairs.

“You look lovely.” Danny said sweetly as he continued eating.

“Thanks.” Lacey smiled, her mind moving back to their happy morning together.

A knock came and Danny slid his plate away and wiped his mouth, “It’s Regina.”

Danny stood and jogged over to his front door, Lacey suddenly very uncomfortable. She had no idea Regina was coming over. She knew they had practice today but she assumed it would be in a studio at the theatre.

“Hey, c’mon in.” Danny greeted her and stepped aside.

Regina entered wearing skin tight pink leggings and oversized Ugg boots, a matching sherpa jacket and a pink knit winter hat with a huge furry pom-pom on top. She looked sickeningly adorable.

“Karen! What a nice surprise.” Regina gave Karen the fakest smile and extended her arms for an exaggerated hug, “I’ve missed you.” She nodded for good measure.

“I heard you killed it at the last show.” Karen smiled back, equally as fake.

“What can I say, I have the perfect partner.” Regina squeezed Danny’s arm tenderly, “Hi Lacey!” Regina’s smile fell a little, “I didn’t know you’d be here either.”

“I live here.” Lacey smiled back.

“Oh? Wow! That was fast—“ Regina looked between her and Danny with some bullshit pleasantly surprised face, “Congratulations! Don’t burn yourselves out now, I know how this one can be—“ Regina poked Danny in the belly.

“Okay, I think you should head down and get warm. I’ll be right there.” Danny held his hand out and guided her to the basement door before this got any more awkward.

Danny walked over toward Lacey and reached out for her hands, rubbing them like he always did, “You’re working all day?”

“I am, I have showings all morning and then I’ll be back in the office here with Whitney for the afternoon.”

“Dinner then maybe?”

“I’ll try.”

“Okay.” Danny pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, “It’s Sunday so the theatre’s closed and we usually practice here.”

Lacey nodded, “I know, I’m not pressed.”

“Yes you are.”

“It’s not comfortable but I trust you.”

“Lacey I’m ready!” Clara chimed in as she chugged the milk that Karen had poured for her.

“Have a good day.” Danny smiled and kissed her before they stepped apart and he headed downstairs.

“I forgot my earbuds!” Clara took off again up the stairs.

Karen watched Lacey as she pulled on her coat and secured her hat and gloves.

“Lacey, thank you for whatever you did to my child.”

Lacey ticked her head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“When Danny’s father Vikram was sent to jail, I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t there for him, not the way I should have been. I was terrified to raise him alone so I kept him busy and I regret it deeply. Regina came into his life right when he needed her, but—“ Karen shook her head, “She’s fake as hell.” She laughed, sending Lacey into her own laughter.

“I trust Danny—“

“You need to know that he’s over the moon about you and so am I. It’s not a competition, but I’m Danny’s mama and I’m telling you that you two ladies are like night and day. He needs someone that’s not with him because it’s an extension of ballet. He needs someone encouraging and positive and who leads by example and won’t settle. That’s you. You’re very special, I hope you know that.”

Lacey shook her head, “What is it with you two? I’m going to start calling this sappy Sunday.” Lacey smiled.

Clara bounced back into the living room, “Got ‘em!” She held up her earbuds.

“Don’t forget to invite people to the party!” Karen pointed to Clara before they headed out.

******

“We’re not flowing enough.” Regina huffed in frustration as Danny plopped her down not too gracefully, “Hey, watch it.”

They had been working through this lift sequence for way too long.

“What the fuck the was that up there?” Danny was obviously still irritated with her.

“What’s your problem?”

“Oh I don’t know, ‘Don’t burn yourselves out, I know how this one can be’?!” Danny spat out at her, complete with air quotes.

“Danny—“

“No, it’s backhanded bullshit and I won’t tolerate it.”

“Jesus you’ve known her for like a month, relax.”

“No! If you don’t acknowledge what you’re doing you can find another partner.” Danny pointed at her.

“Oh, yeah okay, like you’d start over years of training with someone else?” Regina folded her arms around her bony frame.

“You’re fucking right I will!”

“Jesus, what did you get her pregnant already or something?”

“GET OUT!” Danny shouted, something he never did.

He pointed at the door and walked toward her jacket and boots, grabbing them and marching them up the stairs.

“Danny, wait—“ Regina ran after him.

Danny threw the basement door open and stormed out, tossing Regina’s jacket and boots against the front door.

“Get the fuck out!” He shouted again.

“Daniel!” Karen was stunned at her son’s foul language and disrespectful actions.

“Danny, wait, please? I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“What is going on?” Karen came to mediate.

“I’m not dancing with her anymore.” Danny replied simply.

Regina looked at Karen helplessly, not sure where to start or how to explain.

“Okay, okay, take a deep breath—“

“No! Mum. I love you, but I’ve asked Regina to leave and she will do so, right now, or I’ll call the police.”

“I—I Danny, please, don’t do this—“

“I didn’t do anything, you are the one who can’t let this go, let us go!”

“Why does she get to move in with you after like a month?!”

“She’s not you and I don’t have to explain myself to anyone! Get out!” Danny marched over and opened the door, chucking her jacket and boots down the front steps.

“Daniel, that is enough!” Karen scolded him.

“If you have a problem you can leave too.” Danny said bravely.

“You get out there right now and pick that up!” Karen took control of the door from Danny and pushed him out to collect Regina’s things. He did.

“Here.” Danny handed Regina her stuff back.

“Please dance with me.” Regina begged him softly.

Danny opened the door and held it open without another word. Regina stepped up into his space, not ready to throw away all the years they had invested in each other.

“I am happy for you, Danny. Lacey is bigger than ballet for you and that’s how it should be.”

Danny shook his head no, “You’re not happy for me.”

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m jealous and I’m not used to seeing you like this.”

“You’re only saying sorry now because you’re scared to lose my partnership.”

“I am, but I’ve also known you for ten years. You’re my friend and I don’t want that to end, not like this. I really am sorry.”

Danny sighed, “I’m falling in love with her, big time. I won’t take you digging at her, I won’t.”

“I’ll work on it, I was out of line—“

“We’re done for today, we’ll meet at the theatre tomorrow and see if we can do this. If we’re not able to get past this—“ Danny was dead serious about walking away.

“I’ll focus on the work, I promise. You’re the best dancer the company has, I’m not losing this opportunity.”

“Fine.”

Regina said goodbye and basically ran from Danny’s home. Danny apologized to his mother but the threat remained, if anyone had a problem with his personal life they could fuck off.

******

That evening, Karen, Clara, Lacey and Danny all crowded around Danny’s kitchen table for a spaghetti dinner. As they ate, Karen and Clara went over the guest list for their party.

“Okay, who did you invite so far?”

“Whitney and Rico said they would come.”

Karen looked at Lacey for approval.

“Whitney’s my assistant, you just met her tonight—“

“That’s right, that’s right. Okay, and Rico? Is he in?”

“Yes, he’s a colleague of mine.”

“I didn’t get to invite Archie yet.” Clara seemed disappointed.

“I can text him.”

Karen wrote Archie’s name down, “Who’s Archie?”

“Another colleague, he was my business partner after college.”

“Lacey used to kiss him like she kisses Danny now.” Clara raised her eyebrows and swirled another bite of her pasta.

Karen’s mouth hung open a little as she processed Clara’s comment further. She looked over between Lacey and Danny.

“Archie’s also my ex boyfriend.” Lacey nodded slowly.

“Mum, it’s fine. I know all about it. Archie’s important to CC.”

“Right, alright then. So tomorrow, you’ve just gotta invite the company.” Karen smiled, “Clara I made you some invitations to hand out to your class too.”

“Thank you!”

“It’s amazing you can pull all of this off in a couple days, Karen.”

“It’s what I do.” She smiled warmly.

After dinner, Lacey went with Clara up to the loft to unwind and get her ready for bed. While Clara was in the shower, Lacey laid in her bed scrolling through her phone.

Lacey: Hey  
Archie: Hey there, what’s up?  
Lacey: Clara is requesting your presence at her Christmas Eve party this weekend, can you come?  
Archie: Send me the info, I’ll be anywhere that girl asks me to be  
Lacey: Thanks Arch

Lacey heard voices. She tiptoed out of bed and opened the door to the loft quietly. Danny and his mom were still in the kitchen. Lacey ventured out further and hung back by the smaller bedroom, just out of sight of the staircase.

“Are you sure you’re okay with the guest list?” Lacey heard Karen ask skeptically.

“I said it was fine. They’re done, she’s with me, no doubts. This party isn’t about us anyway, it’s about Clara. CC invited Regina too you know?”

“I’m worried about you.”

“Now you’re worried about me?” Lacey could almost hear his eye roll.

“Seeing the way you reacted with Regina today?”

“We had a disagreement, it’s over.”

“You can’t have a complete meltdown whenever someone says something you don’t like. Especially not when children are involved. Clara needs to see your stability, not your short fuse.”

Lacey’s heart sped up, Danny and Regina had a disagreement? Danny’s phone began to ring.

“I have to get this.” Danny shushed his mother, “Hello? Hi, yes this is Danny.”

Lacey was prepared to settle in and listen to at least one side of this conversation but Danny ducked down into the basement and Karen began climbing up the stairs. Lacey made a mad dash to get up into the loft before Karen came around the corner.

“There you are, why are you running?” Clara squinted at her sister like she was the biggest weirdo.

“Just being efficient, ready for school tomorrow? Got all your stuff packed for ballet?”

“No—“

“Then mind your own business, sis!” Lacey nudged her sister playfully.

“What is wrong with you? You’re acting weird.”

“I am not!”

Lacey managed to get everything prepped for both of them in order to have a smooth morning. She was too nervous to venture down from the loft, still reeling from spying on Danny.

He wasn’t lying to her yet, but the potential was there. Lacey was scared to face him and see if he offered any info to her. What if he didn’t? Should she call him out on it? She was the one eavesdropping.

Danny: Did you fall asleep up there?

The text came in the middle of her anxiety driven stream of consciousness.

Lacey: Just getting C ready for tomorrow  
Danny: It’s late, when are you coming to bed?  
Lacey: I might just stay up here tonight  
Danny: Boo! I liked sleeping with you. Do I snore? I snore don’t I  
Lacey: You don’t snore. I am still struggling with playing house. Clara couldn’t find me this morning, thank god for your mom  
Danny: So just tell her where you will be and get in here, this body isn’t going to snuggle itself

“Why are you giggling now? You’re losing it.” Clara judged her sister’s mental health.

“Hey, do you know where Danny’s bedroom is?”

“Yeah, the big one with the fancy shower.”

“That’s where I was last night. I slept in there.”

“In the shower?”

“No, silly, in Danny’s bed.”

“That bed is huge.”

“Exactly, yes, plenty of room for me. I’ll be in there if you need me, okay?”

Clara nodded, “Okay.”

“‘Night Clara, I love you.” Lacey hugged her sister and got her all tucked in.

“‘Night.”

Lacey crept down the stairs, past the smaller bedroom and into Danny’s. Danny was standing in his underwear hanging up some laundry, tossing it down the moment she walked in.

“Yaasss, you made it.” Danny smiled, melting Lacey’s worries a bit. He met her at the foot of the bed and wrapped his arms around her, “How’d your day go?”

“Okay. I think I have a buyer for a small deal tomorrow.”

“Nice.”

Danny’s nimble fingers slid around under the front of Lacey’s sweater and caressed the skin he found there. He watched her face as he pulled the sweater up further, when she didn’t move to stop him he popped it off over Lacey’s head.

“What about you, how was practice?”

Danny’s arms fell, sweater in hand as he exhaled at the memory.

“Terrible. Regina’s just a jealous nightmare right now. We’re going to try to work through it but it got pretty heated today and I almost quit as her partner.”

One point for Danny, Lacey thought to herself.

“That’s rough. Was she the one who called?” Lacey asked before remembering she wasn’t supposed to know about that.

“The one who called?” Danny looked at her like he had no clue what she was talking about.

Lacey tried to mask her mistake, “Karen, I—when she came up she mentioned you were on the phone—“

“Oh, right yeah, wrong number.”

Lacey licked her lips, remembering that he had confirmed with the caller that he was Danny when he answered. He just lied to her.

“Wrong number?” They were about to go one way or the other.

“Well, the theatre called for me, but it wasn’t me they needed. I guess Misty’s partner is sick and the director called thinking I was his understudy but I’m not.”

Lacey nodded, sounded plausible.

“I don’t want to talk about this stuff.” Danny dropped her sweater to the ground and reached for the zipper of Lacey’s skirt, pulling her against him, “Shower?”

“You really should have learned how to wash yourself by now.” Lacey smiled and kissed him.

Danny unzipped her skirt and wrangled her tights off before pulling her toward the bathroom.


	14. Chapter 14

In the following days, Lacey and Danny switched their focus back to their work. They knew how busy things were going to get for each of them and made a point to reserve their nights together. 

They talked for hours, planned short term things and talked at length about their personal long term goals, trying to decide if a life together was worth building. When they were done talking, the rest of their nights were spent learning every square inch of each other’s bodies. 

Danny loved to paint her nails, Lacey loved to braid his hair. Both of them loved to have sex, making sure to throughly take care of each other in the bedroom often. They hadn’t missed a single night yet, Lacey’s ‘no sex in the house’ rule quickly morphed into ‘the door must be locked, no exceptions.’

Danny was special. Lacey had not expected to feel the connection that continued to grow between them at this intensity. His brand of love was more than she knew was possible to have in a relationship. 

Lacey wasn’t a teenager coming into her own like she was when she had first met Archie, she was now a grown ass woman, ready to move on with her life and into a happy, healthy partnership.

She had been with Archie for years and had never felt comfortable enough taking the next steps like moving in with him. Her relationship with Danny was completely different, she wasn’t sure living apart from him now would even be in their future. 

Having Karen at the house for the week was wonderful, she kept the house clean, made them food and helped to prep for Clara’s party.

Despite Danny’s childhood abandonment issues surrounding his mom, Karen seemed to be trying very hard to focus on being here for him during the holidays. Lacey tried her best to point out Karen’s efforts and help to foster their relationship. Lacey and Clara needed this mom time and mom energy just as much as he did.

With all of this new love and support at home, Lacey ended up selling a record number of properties. By extension, Whitney was an all star helping her hold it all together.

Danny and Regina focused strictly on their choreography and nothing else in order to prep for the holiday shows that were scheduled at the end of the week.

Christmas Eve fell on a Thursday and the plan was that everyone would attend the theatre’s matinee show and then head to Clara’s Christmas party. 

On Christmas Eve morning, Lacey dropped her sister off for her class as usual and had just made it to the bottom of the theatre steps when Clara’s instructor called her back.

“Hello?” Lacey asked with a bit of worry, recognizing the phone number.

“Lacey, hi. Madame Rossi.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Clara is fine. I’m sorry I missed you this morning, are you able to come back?”

“Oh, right now?”

“Yes please, it’s quite important.”

“Sure, okay. I’ll be right there.” 

Lacey raced up the steps and into Clara’s classroom. Clara was working with the rest of the class like nothing was amiss.

“Thank you for coming back. Let’s speak out there.” 

Madame Rossi asked Clara to follow them into the hallway while she enlisted one of the older dancers to monitor the younger class members.

Danny had been in a dress rehearsal and happened to be on a break when he spotted Lacey and Clara just as they stepped out.

“Hey!” Danny squinted in confusion, “Don’t you have class—“ He pointed at Clara just as Madame Rossi joined them.

“What’s going on?” Lacey asked, Clara’s face twisted to reveal her own anxiety about this random break from her routine.

“Danny, do you have somewhere to be?” Madame Rossi scolded him.

“Right here.” He asserted, lifting a hand to Lacey’s back in support.

“The lead from our elite juniors that was cast in our Christmas program is sick and as it turns out, she unfortunately practiced with her understudy a few days ago and now they are both sick.”

“Ew, that stinks.” Lacey said, not connecting the dots.

“Oh my god.” Danny said under his breath, a smile creeping onto his face.

Madame Rossi smiled uncharacteristically then too, their energies building off of one another.

“What?” Lacey asked as she looked between their smiling faces.

“The company has decided that we would like Clara to be cast in her role.”

“OHMYGOD!” Clara squealed and leapt into Danny’s arms.

“Wait, like for today’s matinee?!” Lacey was shocked.

“Indeed, and for the rest of the shows this week.”

“I—I don’t—“ Lacey didn’t know what to say.

“She knows the choreography, we’ve been learning it all month. She’s ready.” Madame Rossi gave Clara a nod.

Lacey exhaled and looked over to see Danny happily dancing with Clara.

“What do we need to do?” Lacey asked.

“Well, first we need to get Clara in to see the director so she can work on stage position. She needs to go straight into wardrobe to be fitted for her costumes and then she’ll need to join the dress rehearsals which are going on right now, correct Daniel?” Madame Rossi squinted at Danny.

“I have a break Madame, I swear.” Danny tried to defend himself.

“We’ll also need you to sign her contract for the week, talk about her pay.”

“She’ll get paid for this?”

“She’ll be top billed, right along with Misty, Danny and Regina, she’ll definitely earn compensation for this role.”

“Lacey can I do it?!” Clara slid away from her celebratory dance and jumped up and down next to her big sister.

“Yes. You’ve worked so hard C, this is yours. Take it seriously.”

Clara nodded and calmed herself down.

“Let’s get you ready.” 

Madame Rossi ushered Clara down the hall and instructed Danny to take Lacey to see the program coordinator to go over details.

“Is she ready for this?” Lacey panicked a little.

“I won’t let anything happen to her. I know her dances too, I’ll be right there.”

Lacey exhaled, “Okay, thanks.”

“I’ll see you later.” Danny gave her a peck and ran off after showing her where to go.

******

After a whirlwind morning getting Clara prepared for this spontaneous shove into the limelight, Lacey ran across the street to fill Karen in and get dressed for this matinee

“I am not surprised, I am so excited for her!” Karen beamed, “She’s an exceptional dancer. This will be so fun.”

The girls headed over to the theatre together to occupy Danny’s family seats. Lacey spied Clara peeking out from backstage looking at the audience. Once she connected with Lacey she waved excitedly, Lacey knew then that she was in good spirits and finally relaxed a little.

As the lights dimmed, Lacey slid her phone out to turn it off and spotted a text.

Danny: Wait ‘till you see her :)

Lacey smiled and switched her phone off, snuggling in next to Karen.

It turns out, Clara’s performance was basically meant to be as a dancing narrator. She began the story, danced to distract the audience while scenes were changed and truly was the thread that held the entire show together. Lacey had never seen anything like it. Her sister killed it.

As Clara segued the audience into Danny and Regina’s dance, Danny actually danced with her briefly, the sweetest connection of trust and grace. Karen squeezed Lacey’s hand. Lacey had no idea that Clara had actually messed up at that time and that Danny smoothed it all out and made it seem like part of the show. 

Danny was locked in for his dances. He acted his ass off, his face showing nothing but love and adoration for Regina’s character. 

They flowed and sold everyone on the idea that they were deeply connected lovers with a passion for each other. It was beautiful to watch and very convincing. You wanted to believe they were in love, you wanted them to succeed.

At the end of the show, the feeling in the theatre was that of warmth, love and happiness. What a beautiful way to start the holiday celebrations.

Clara invited the whole cast out to surround her on stage as she was supposed to, but in this case, the whole cast really did want to be around her. They happily stood behind her as they took their final bows. 

Clara’s performance was radiant and funny, earning her a standing ovation. Even her peers turned to clap for her directly. She had proven to them that she was ready for this and they had all watched as she jumped into a difficult situation with a spirit they admired greatly. 

Karen and Lacey made their way backstage to collect Clara and to congratulate all of them.

“You did it Clara!” Lacey scooped up her sister and swung her around, “I’m so proud of you. Mama would have been so proud of you too.” They squeezed an extra long time.

“I messed up a little—“ 

“I didn’t notice and that’s good anyway, gives you something to work on for the next show, right?” Lacey smiled warmly.

“Hey Lace—“ Danny found them and gave Lacey and his mom a hug.

“Oh, Danny, you were amazing!” Lacey gushed.

“Thank you, it went well I think.”

“Hey Clara, what time’s your party?” A man that Lacey recognized as Misty Copeland’s partner interrupted them.

“You’re coming?!” Clara was shocked.

“Of course, wouldn’t miss it.” The man smiled.

“Party’s at five.” Lacey smiled back, happy her sister seemed to fit in so well with her new ballet family.

“Cole, this is Clara’s sister, and my girlfriend, Lacey Porter. Lacey this is Misty’s pas de deux partner, Cole Farrell.” Danny introduced them further.

Lacey shook the handsome dancers hand, always shocked by how short the dancers were after they appeared larger than life on stage.

“Nice to meet you, glad you’re feeling better!” Lacey smiled.

Cole scrunched his face up in confusion, “Was I not well?”

“I—believe you were sick, yes? I thought your understudy had been preparing for tonight—“ Lacey replied looking at Danny for a little help, finding nothing but panic on his face. What was going on?

“Seriously?! Charlie!” Cole called his understudy over, “You prepping behind my back? Somebody say something to you?!”

“What? No man, I have been working with backup, nobody’s pulled me—“ Charlie defended.

“What’s she talking about then Danny? Are you causing problems here?” Cole challenged him.

“No, there must be some confusion, everything’s cool.” Danny tried to call him down.

“You know what, I got it wrong.” Lacey interjected, definitely not wrong but not willing to mess up Clara’s first performance or her new connections, “I know a couple dancers have been sick, I thought one was you.”

Cole nodded and seemed to accept Lacey’s explanation.

“See you at my place later.” Danny said, patting Cole and Charlie on their backs and trying to turn away from Lacey as they dispersed, hoping she’d leave it alone.

Lacey snagged his elbow and turned him back to face her, “Who called that night? Who were you talking to?”

“Can we do this later—“

“You lied to me.” Lacey shook her head in disbelief, “You’re still lying to me.”

“I’m not trying to purposely hide something—“ Danny made a face like he was in pain or battling something internally, “Okay, I am hiding something, but it’s not what you think.”

“What am I supposed to think, Danny? Are you still talking to her?”

“Who? Regina?! Hell no.”

Lacey crossed her arms, “I have to make choices for people other than myself, Danny. Healthy, calculated choices.”

“I know, I know.” Danny pulled her further off to the side while she went on her rant.

“I have to be able to trust you and you’re out here lying to me while we’re trying to build something—“

“Please just trust me? It’ll all make sense tomorrow.”

“Oh you mean give you a whole extra day to figure out how to cover up whatever this lie is?”

“No. It’ll be very obvious tomorrow, I promise you.”

“I’ll see you at the party.” Lacey grumbled and pushed past him and into the crowd to retrieve her sister.

******

Clara was off the rails by the time the party started. Lacey tried to get her to eat some real food, but the cookies and the candy from the gingerbread house stations won and Clara was a sugar filled mess.

Lacey and Clara matched for the party, wearing soft, black velvet overalls with green shirts underneath. They were comfy and cute and it reminded Lacey of how their mother would have dressed them when they were younger.

Lacey was furious with Danny and made zero effort to mingle with him. As the gingerbread house decorating contest began, everyone scrambled to find a team. Lacey was pissed to find Clara dragging Danny over to be on theirs.

“Hi.” He said in his typical charming way. 

“I’m doing the roof.” Lacey muttered to them.

“Yes ma’am.” Danny sighed, having hoped for Lacey to be in a very different mood.

Lacey created the most amazing thatched roof out of mini pretzel rods and ended up winning them second place, only behind Rico and Whitney who had somehow made their gingerbread house into a fire station and had their gingerbread men sliding down pretzel stick poles. It was all very nuanced.

“I love your house!” Rico cheered for Clara’s team.

“Where’s Archie?” Lacey asked him, a question that didn’t go unnoticed by Danny.

“He said he was going to be late—“ Rico confirmed.

Lacey slammed the frosting tube down, “Can’t count on anybody I guess.” She snarled before walking away.

Danny went after her.

“Trouble in paradise?” Rico asked Whitney.

“I have no idea what’s going on.” Whitney shrugged and shamelessly sucked the extra frosting from the tip of the piping bag.

“Please talk to me?”

“How can I ever be okay with anything you say to me now?”

“I haven’t lied about anything, not really—“

“Once that trust gets broken—“ Lacey cut him off.

“Jesus Lacey, tomorrow is Christmas, did it ever occur to you that I’m trying to hide a gift?” Danny was done with her sudden irrationality.

“It doesn’t feel like that’s what it is.”

“That is what it is. Can we stop this now?”

“It’ll be obvious?”

“Yes, I promise.” Danny smiled.

“Can you tell I don’t like surprises?” Lacey smiled back.

“I’m picking up on that.” Danny laughed, “I won’t surprise you ever again if that’s what you want, just please, give me my girlfriend back?”

Lacey pulled him in for a hug and he finally got to feel her velvet outfit.

“God, you are so soft! I just want to—“ Danny began rubbing his hands all over her.

“Hey!” Lacey giggled.

Danny hugged her close, “I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“This better be some present.”

Danny’s front door opened and in walked Regina, hair down from her usual bun, curls cascading beautifully around her bare shoulders. Her dancer body was stuffed in a short, skin tight scarlet red dress and she wore matching patent stilettos. She looked beyond incredible.

“Fucking Christ.” Lacey groaned, suddenly feeling like she was grossly underdressed.

Danny stuck his chin on Lacey’s shoulder, still embracing her from behind and stroking the soft fabric at her waist.

“I prefer your velvet.” He hummed into her ear, his voice calm, certain.

Lacey rested her head backward against him, “Don’t start with me, not now.”

“Now’s a great time—“ He slid his hands down into her front pockets.

“What’s your favorite color?” Lacey asked knowing exactly what she was doing.

“Red.”

Lacey let his answer hang there and marinate until it obviously clicked for him.

Danny pulled back and spun Lacey around as Regina made her way toward them, “You tricked me.” He smiled.

“Did I? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure she knows that red is your favorite color too.” Lacey smiled back coyly.

“Red is also a Christmas color, like green.” Danny pulled Lacey closer by the straps of her overalls, trying to remind her that she was the one wearing green, “I’m here for green.”

“Oh shush, you’re here for the velvet. She’s a fucking smoke show right now, I’m not blind.” Lacey pushed him away playfully.

Danny took a deep breath.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me!” Regina smiled as she approached them with those fucking gorgeous ballet legs.

“Clara invited you.” Lacey couldn’t help it.

Danny tried to hold his giggle and moved to kiss Regina’s cheeks. Lacey was still standing in front of him, not a threesome any of them had ever wanted.

“Welcome.” He said.

Danny pulled away and quickly stuffed his hands back inside the front pockets of Lacey’s velvet overalls, another attempt to show her he was all hers.

“You look—“ Danny began.

“—overdressed.” Lacey finished.

“Oh, well, I have a—“ Regina stalled.

“A real party to go to?” Lacey shook her head.

“After this, yes. Where’s Clara?” Regina held her hand up, “I have a gift for her.”

“She’s around, have a good time.” Lacey flashed a fake smile.

The front door opened again and Archie walked in wearing a full dapper black on black suit. Well damn, Lacey thought, knowing how Danny must feel now. Archie spotted Lacey and made his way over toward them.

“Well, would you look at that guy.” Danny said flatly.

“Yeah well, he’s no Captain Hook.” Lacey winked and stepped forward to greet Archie.

“Hey Lace, Danny.”

“Hey Arch, Clara’s going to be so excited to see you.”

“Welcome.” Danny said simply.

“I can’t stay, but I wanted to give Clara my gift.” He held up a bright pink bag, “I’ve got another party—“

“I’m having déjà vu.” Danny said honestly.

That’s when it hit them at the same time. Lacey swirled around to connect with Danny whose eyes were open wider than hers. He nodded his approval immediately.

“Oh my god!” Lacey sang.

“Why are you so happy?” Archie asked curiously.

“Do you have a date for your party?”

“I—um, no? Why are you—?” Archie looked between Lacey and Danny, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Not me, silly, but I think I know someone who would be perfect for you.” Lacey grabbed Archie’s hand, dragging him along behind her.

“Lacey, who’s this now?” Karen stopped her as she tried to speed by.

“Oh! Yes, Karen, this is my former business partner, Archie.”

“So this is Archie? Wow, well hello.” Karen gave her best cougar smile and held her hand out.

“Archie, this is Karen.” Archie held his hand out, offering this woman a kind smile, “Danny’s mom.” Lacey added, making Archie’s face falter for a moment.

“Danny’s mom, right. Hello, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Excuse me Karen, I’m trying to make a love connection here—“ Lacey giggled and pulled Archie away.

“Regina, hey!” Lacey slid in front of her and whomever she was talking to, “Excuse us, I’m cutting in—“

“Lacey, what—“

Lacey turned to Archie, “I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine.”

Regina slipped out a sarcastic laugh at that but then finally connected with Archie and his gorgeous green eyes and shut the hell up.

“Archie, this is Regina Crane. Regina, Archie Yates.”

“Nice to meet you.” Regina said genuinely.

Lacey knew that Archie definitely had a type and that Regina Crane was definitely not it. She hoped that the red dress would help to offset a lot for him, like the blonde hair and the fair skin.

“You too.” Archie said politely.

“Archie owns his own company, he’s a real estate broker.” Lacey inventoried proudly, knowing how hard he had worked for those titles.

“Is that so?” Regina seemed impressed.

“Regina Crane. Where have I heard that name before?” Archie asked, turning to Lacey for clarification.

“Regina is a professional ballet dancer.”

“Ballet, yes of course! Wow, you must be very disciplined.” Archie acknowledged.

“Oh where do I start!” Regina laughed.

Lacey tried to tiptoe away once she got them started, not unlike pulling the cord on a lawn mower for the first cut of the season. A little shaky but off they went.

“Lacey, wait—“ Archie grabbed her arm and tugged her back, “Can I get that hug now? Please.”

“I’d like that.” 

They wrapped their arms around each other, saying goodbye in the way they had hoped they would after all these years together. Lacey opened her eyes and saw Danny watching from the distance, giving her an approving smile when their eyes met. She was so thankful for him.

“Thanks.” Lacey stepped back and turned toward Regina, “Enjoy!” Lacey danced her ass out of there and back toward her King.

“Looks like that could solve some things. Well done, Porter.”

“She’s into him, I can’t tell where he is though.” Lacey said as she reclaimed her spot in Danny’s arms. 

“Clara’s leading the limbo contest.” Danny filled her in, tossing his chin over toward the living room, “With a house full of ballet dancers it could easily go for several rounds—“ Danny added softly, “We’re bendy.”

“I’m not doing the walk of shame up those stairs and back down again in front of all these people if that’s what you’re thinking.” 

“Bathroom?” Danny thumbed toward his downstairs bathroom around the corner, stepping in way too close, “I need it. You?”

Yep.

Lacey melted into a puddle and poured herself into the bathroom, Danny not far behind. Lacey locked the door behind them and pushed Danny to sit down onto the closed toilet seat. Lacey straddled him in her impenetrable overalls of doom.

Danny tried hard to figure out how to unhook the infernal straps with one hand but they were hopelessly twisted and he really didn’t want to let go of her ass with his other hand, their mouths busy sucking each other’s faces off.

“I’m really second guessing this outfit.” Lacey giggled as Danny gave up and dry humped her from below while she struggled to unhook the straps herself, “Will you stop moving me, I’m trying—“

Danny stopped grinding their groins together and moved to rub her clit through its velvet jail.

“I like that—“ 

“Me too.”

Lacey bore down on his hand for a few moments longer before Danny realized her overalls had folded down and were now able to be removed. 

Danny stood and yanked them the rest of the way off of Lacey’s body, thong and all, before returning her to his lap and fishing his own junk out of his pants.

“Condom.” Lacey stopped him.

Danny collapsed against Lacey’s chest in defeat. He knew they were all upstairs in the bedroom where he had first suggested they go.

“I’ll pull out.” He begged, “Like way before—“

“No sir, we’re not playing, not like that.”

Danny kept his face in her chest for a few moments to mask his sexual frustration while he scraped his composure back together.

“Okay, okay.” He leaned back with the biggest puppy dog eyes ever. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” Lacey scolded, still rocking herself against nothing in his lap.

“You’re the one still torturing me here—“ He whined as he watched her hips wind up again.

“You asked for the quickie when you weren’t prepared, who’s really torturing who here?” Lacey smirked.

Danny’s cock pulsed between them.

“Take care of it.” Lacey suggested while she continued rolling around in his lap.

“What, like now?” Danny asked like she was crazy.

“Hell yeah, let me see how you like to do it. I’ll go first—“

Lacey licked her fingers and pressed them against her own clit and began rubbing in slow, firm circles. Danny watched, his jaw slack. 

He grabbed himself and just got to it, both of them masturbating together knowing the alternative would result in tiny humans neither of them were ready for.

Lacey moved and straddled his thigh, grinding herself there the exact way she would always ride his dick. It didn’t take her long.

“I’m done—I’m done—“ Lacey whimpered and held onto his shoulders for dear life.

“Shit—“ Danny came too, squirting himself all over Lacey’s stomach and dripping onto her legs, “Fuck, I liked that.” He approved as he shook out the last drops and wiped his tip on her inner thigh.

“I mean, you just frosted me like one of the cookies!” Lacey giggled in disbelief.

“What? There’s no way I could’ve reached your mouth—“ Danny shrugged like it was the obvious next choice.

Lacey swatted at him, “Yeah? I should make you lick it off me, see how you like it!”

“Gross, no way.” Danny smiled, grabbed her ass and ground her down against his thigh again, “Thank you.”

“So fun.” She kissed him before they worked to carefully wipe her off and pull themselves together.

******

“It’s time for bed.” 

Lacey rubbed her hand up and down Clara’s back in an effort to soothe her overtired sister, still buzzing from her day.

“I don’t want tomorrow to come.” Clara confessed, “It won’t be the same.” She sniffled, too exhausted to actually start crying.

“I know, but I’m still here. We’ll have our own traditions, okay? Mama would have wanted that.”

“Okay.” Clara snuggled into her sister further, “Stay with me tonight?”

“Okay.”

Once Clara was asleep Lacey knew she needed help to make tomorrow run smoothly.

Lacey: Clara’s having a tough time  
Danny: What can I do?  
Lacey: I’m going to stay with her tonight, would you mind putting the gifts under the tree for me?  
Danny: Are they all still in your office?  
Lacey: Yes  
Danny: On it  
Lacey: Thank you  
Danny: I’ll see you in the morning, rest well

Christmas morning the sisters woke up snuggled in so tight. They had slept better than they had since their mother passed. Lacey checked the time, six AM.

“Thanks for staying with me.” Clara hugged Lacey.

“Merry Christmas, Clarebear. I love you.” Lacey hugged her back, “Shall we see what’s what downstairs?”

“I guess.”

As they reached the top of the stairs they could smell sausages and other delicious breakfast smells filtering through the house. Danny and Karen occupied the kitchen as Lacey and Clara shuffled in.

“Merry Christmas!” Karen over exaggerated and gave Clara a big squeeze, moving on to Lacey right after and suffocating them with her love.

“Merry Christmas.” Lacey hugged her back, Danny intercepting Lacey the second his mother let go of her.

“Good morning,” he kissed her and held her tight.

“Thanks for your help last night.” She said softly so Clara wouldn’t hear.

“I missed you.” He confessed, his honesty making Lacey erupt with laughter.

“Noted. I’ll make it up to you—“

“Can’t wait.” He kissed her again.

They ate breakfast and then made their way into the living room to check out the gift situation. Despite Clara’s single request to see her absent father on Christmas, she sure did end up getting into opening presents. 

Lacey got all the usual suspects for her, something to play with outside, art supplies, board games and a little make up. Her big gift was next and Lacey couldn’t wait to see her reaction. Clara opened the box carefully to find a brand new pair of pointe shoes. Her whole face lit up.

“Lacey! Thank you!” Clara was thrilled.

“Madame Rossi said you can start practicing once per week, but she made me promise you wouldn’t start until after your responsibility to this show. If you twist an ankle right now she’ll kill both of us!” Lacey giggled.

“Okay, I won’t. I’m so excited!” Clara hugged her shoes and tapped her feet up and down.

Karen got the girls some new pajamas and gift cards to a few places in Green Grove to entice them to come and visit Danny’s hometown some time.

Lacey got Karen a delicate platinum necklace with a circle pendant that had Danny’s name and birthdate engraved on the front, with a tiny heart and ‘L & CC’ on the back. A tangible reminder and another attempt by Lacey’s kind heart to bring Karen and Danny closer.

Danny opened his gift from Lacey and Clara and inside was a PS5.

“Are you two kidding me right now?!” Danny could not believe they had found one.

“Well, you moved us in, gave me your man-cave for my office and stuffed all of your video game stuff into your closet, I figured this might help even out the pain.” Lacey giggled.

Danny hugged them both, “Thank you so much!” He hadn’t expected anything like that, “I have gifts for you too.”

Danny handed Clara a small box. Inside was a gold bracelet with a tiny figure skate charm and a ballet slipper charm.

“It’s beautiful Danny, thank you!”

“It’s to remind you that life’s not all about ballet, okay? You have a whole life, ballet is just one part of it. They have other charms too, but I wanted you to pick them out. We’ll go sometime soon.”

Clara nodded and asked him to put it on her. Danny fastened it and then grabbed the gift for his beautiful girlfriend.

“This is for you.”

Lacey opened her gift finding two Cartier love bangles inside, one gold, one white gold.

“Wow, Danny. These are—“ Lacey slid them both on together.

“We both got bracelets!” Clara noticing the nod to their sister bond that Danny was hoping they’d see warmed Lacey’s heart and made Danny smile.

“I wanted to make sure you had different colors so they’d go with all of your other jewelry.” Danny explained.

“I LOVE these, thank you.” Lacey rolled the very expensive jewelry around her wrist.

Lacey meant it, but looked down and realized that these bracelets were the last gifts under the tree and she had not yet had some great epiphany about the lie she had caught Danny in.

Just as she was trying to figure out where they should go from here, or how to address it, someone knocked on Danny’s front door. Karen smiled knowingly at Danny and he rolled to his feet and headed toward the door. 

Lacey stood too, the energy in the room had changed and she wasn’t sure she could identify what it had shifted to. Danny opened the door and standing on the other side was Samuel.

“Morning, sir. Please come in.” Danny stepped aside.

Lacey stood still, in complete shock.

“DADDY!” Clara shouted and ran to him, “Lacey! You got my daddy back! You really did it!” 

Clara wept openly, so exhausted from trying to stay strong after not seeing him for almost a year. She just wanted her parents. She collapsed into his arms.

Karen and Danny cried too as they watched their emotional reunion. Lacey was the only one left with dry eyes. She realized that this was the obvious thing Danny had promised would clarify things for them. The phone call must have been from Samuel that night.

“Hi Lacey.” Samuel greeted his eldest daughter.

“Pop.” She gave him a nod, not wanting to spoil this for Clara, “Excuse me.” Lacey stood and headed for the bathroom.


	15. Chapter 15

Karen sprang into action and served Samuel and Clara some coffee and juice, entertaining them while Danny went to check on Lacey. He knew it wouldn’t be an easy reunion, he just hoped he did the right thing.

Danny knocked on the bathroom door, “It’s Danny.” Lacey opened the door and let him in.

She wasn’t crying, she was pacing. Danny stopped her and pulled her in close to him and just held her.

“Did you see her face?!” Lacey was angry, “My sister needs him in her life, he’s such a selfish asshole!”

Danny stayed quiet and rubbed her back while she poured out a year’s worth of pain and betrayal.

“Is Mitch here too?” She didn’t really ask and didn’t wait for an answer either, “Clara is his child! How do you just leave a note and flee from your own children!”

Danny accepted her pushing him away so she could pace again. He stayed close.

“Who does he think he is?! Just running away and then coming back like that?! He can’t just come and go, it would have been easier if he just stayed away!”

“Maybe he wants to come back.” Danny suggested softly.

“Did he tell you that?”

“No, but—“

“Knew it. He doesn’t care about us, you probably guilt-tripped him over here and he’s going to try to apologize to me for bailing and then thank me for stepping in, like I had a fucking choice. Fuck him, Danny!”

“I want you to speak with him.”

“I have nothing to say to him.”

“Please do this?” Danny pushed, something he never did.

“You want children, right?” Lacey deflected to a conversation they had a few nights ago.

“Yes.”

“When you finally have them, could you imagine leaving them a note and then moving to the other side of the country without saying anything?”

“Never.”

Lacey paced a few more laps.

“Why did you do this?”

“I did it for Clara and I did it for you, too.”

“Well nobody asked—“

“Clara asked.” Danny clarified.

“Clara’s almost eleven, Danny. She doesn’t know what she wants.”

“Yes, she does.”

“Danny—“

“His wife died. You said it was quick. He had no time wrap his mind around suddenly caring for you two as a single father.”

“Neither did I but I’m still here!” Lacey’s voice finally cracked and the tears followed closely behind.

Danny held her as she collapsed in his arms, furious, broken and hurting. He was a rock and Lacey clung to him like she’d drown if she let go. 

“My mother has been trying this week.” Danny said calmly, “I know that you’ve been showing me that and pointing stuff out and I’m so thankful for that, Lacey. It’s so hard to see the good when so much bad has happened.” Danny kissed the top of her head and held her tighter. “I know that my mom will leave tonight and I won’t be part of her life again for another year. I have that same relationship going on as you do with Samuel and it’s been that way my whole life. It’s not perfect, but she’s my mother, my family. They’re going to die someday too, you know that. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with him. You deserve whatever love he is willing to give. Whatever you two work out, that’ll be Clara’s new normal. Keep that circuit open for her.”

“What if he’s about to tell me he wants her back? What if he’s about to move her to Seattle?” Lacey revealed her fears to Danny and buried her face deeper, trying to hide from the weight of it all.

“You don’t have to play the what if game. He’s here right now and you can get your answers. Just talk to him.”

They held each other like that for a long minute, Lacey trying to balance what Danny said with where her heart was. He was right. Samuel didn’t deserve this visit, she did. Clara did. This was a gift, it was time to face him.

“I don’t want Clara around when we talk.”

Danny pulled back and wiped her face, “Okay. I’ll take her skating with mom. You two join us when you’re ready.”

******

Clara happily rambled non stop about her life, filling Samuel in on everything he had missed while she pulled on her warm clothes for skating. It was like he deserved to know, like it wasn’t his choice to run away.

Lacey seethed patiently in the single chair across from where he sat on the couch. She was learning so much about unconditional love and forgiveness from watching her little sister.

“Alright, we’ll get a head start at the rink and meet you two later.” Danny smiled and squatted so he could give Clara a piggy-back ride out.

“Clara you watch it, be so careful—“

“Yeah, yeah.” Clara rolled her eyes and giggled when Danny bounced her around in a circle before the door closed.

Lacey and Samuel stared at each other for a beat.

“If she gets hurt skating it’s your fault. She wouldn’t be out there right now if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I’ve missed you.” Samuel said with the apologetic face Lacey knew he’d put on.

“You didn’t have to miss me. You could have been here with us, a family of three.” Lacey’s words were scathing, bubbling with disgust.

“Who’s this Danny guy? What happened to Archie?”

“That’s where you want to start?”

“Danny seems like he cares about you a whole lot.”

Lacey shrugged, “You won’t get an update on my life from me. You haven’t earned it.”

“He’s called me every day for the last two weeks, a couple of days ago it was almost every hour. He’s persistent.”

“What else, Pop? You came all this way to talk about my persistent roommate?”

“Roommate?” He looked at Lacey skeptically.

“Clara’s happy to see you, care to throw me a bone here and tell me when you’ll be ditching her again? It’ll really help me out if I’m able to plan better for her devastation.”

“I shouldn’t had done that, I shouldn’t have left the way I did. I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be—“

“You’re damn right.”

“I was wrong, I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want that. Your apology. It’s just words and I don’t want them.”

“What do you want.”

“I want you to get to the point. When are you leaving again?”

“Mitch and I—“

Lacey huffed out an exasperated laugh.

“We were thinking of trading off, one year in Seattle, one year here in the city. I’m stable now, I can take Clara with me, there’s a ballet program out there—“

“No. You’re not taking her from me. She’s doing so well, she’s happy. If you decide to come in and out of her life every other year at a time, fine. I’ll prepare her for that, just like I’ve prepared and motivated her for everything else in her life for the last year. She’s not leaving my care.”

“I’ve raised you girls for more than twenty years. Your mother passing—“

“—was a shitty time and a shitty reason to need a break.”

Samuel paused and took the jab, “It was, but I felt I had no other choice. I had no money, no place for Clara and I to live. All I had was Mitch waiting in Seattle so I took the chance. You and Archie were doing well, you were stable.”

“And instead of working something out with me, you left a note and let me tell your nine year old that her daddy left. You’re selfish.”

“I guess I am.”

“After she lost her mother, I let her be angry with me for not being able to tell her if you’d ever be back. She needed someone to be mad at. I wish you had died too, it would have been easier to explain why you never called.”

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“Oh just shut up.”

“Lacey—“

“What? You’re going to tell me to not be disrespectful? Fuck. You.”

Samuel let Lacey cool back down for a bit before trying to connect with her again. This time it was Lacey who went first.

“How’s Mitch these days?”

“Mitch is just fine.”

“Did you cheat on my mother?”

“It’s not that simple—“

“Yes it is.”

“Your mother knew that I was gay. She knew probably before I even figured it out. Your mother knew about him.”

“He in town with you?”

“No.”

“So Danny convinced you to come back just to surprise us?”

Samuel didn’t answer right away. He kept his head down, nervously playing with his watch.

“That’s not the only reason, is it?” Lacey could smell his bullshit a mile away.

“I was hoping that maybe you or Archie could help me find a place—“

“Wow.” Lacey smiled, “You really think that I’m about to help you out?”

“I thought I’d ask, give you some business.”

“I don’t need your business. I’ll take a year’s worth of child support though, for raising your daughter.”

“I don’t have a year’s worth.”

“But you can afford to ask a luxury real estate broker to help you find a place in the city?”

“I’m sure you don’t only do luxury—“

“Oh how would you know?” Lacey made a face like the room was beginning to stink to high heaven.

“I just assumed, since you have to have a roommate and all.”

Did he really just say that?

“Good luck with your house hunting.” Lacey stood and held her hand out toward the front door, ready to kick him the hell out.

“I’m staying here for a couple days.”

“Staying where?”

“Here. Danny said he’d set me up in the basement.”

“Did he. How kind. When do you leave?” 

“Two days.”

“I’m going to go spend some time with my family now. It is Christmas after all.” Lacey stuffed her feet into her boots and pulled her jacket on, “Better hurry up because you’re not staying in my home without someone else here with you.”

Samuel pulled his jacket on too and stood beside his daughter.

“Can I get a hug?” He held his arms out.

“No.”

******

“You invited him to stay in the basement?”

The first words out of Lacey’s mouth when they had finally joined Danny, Karen and Clara at the skating rink threw Danny off.

“I—I just—“

“He goes in a hotel or Clara and I do.” She said and skated off with her sister.

Danny stepped away and secured a room at a nearby hotel.

“I can’t have you stay at the house.” Danny said as he walked up beside Samuel, “I got you a room there.” Danny pointed to the Sheraton just beyond the rink, which was within walking distance of his house.

“I understand, thank you for the room.”

“She needs more time.”

“No, I’ve lost her.” Samuel watched his girls skate, “Are you two just roommates? She won’t tell me anything.”

“I’m not going to tell you about that, but I will say that your daughters are loved by so many people in their circle. They’re okay where they are, don’t take anything else away from them. Please.”

“Clara and Archie were so close, is he still around?”

“He knows what he means to her and he takes that seriously, he’s still there.”

“Do you love her?”

“Lacey?” Danny looked out at the rink, watching Lacey smile and laugh with her sister and his mom, “With all my heart.”

******

Samuel grabbed his things and checked into the hotel after a few hours of catching up with Clara. Karen had also packed her car up and said goodbye to all of them before heading back to Green Grove for the foreseeable future.

“And then tomorrow we’re going to go to the museum and then maybe a movie and then he wants to get ice cream!” Clara gushed about her plans with her father.

“One thing at a time, okay C? Just enjoy what you’ve done so far. Good night, I love you.” Lacey tried to manage her expectations.

“I love you too.” Clara snuggled into her bed.

Danny helped Lacey pull her stuff back down from the loft and stood outside of the small bedroom just staring at the emptiness inside.

“You okay?”

Danny turned to face her, her bedding in hand, “Move in with me?”

“What?”

“I don’t want to set you back up in there—“ Danny shook his head, “and I don’t want you to find another place.”

“Danny—“ She was exhausted.

Danny threw the bedding into the small bedroom and grabbed the rest of the stuff from Lacey’s hands and dragged it into his. Lacey followed and watched as he staged it all within his existing drawers and closets.

“There, see? There’s room, I’ll make more room.”

“Danny, I know we’re kind of dealing with the same stuff, but I’m not going anywhere, okay? You and I, we’re good.”

“Are you still looking for a place?”

“You’re seriously asking me to stay for real?”

“Yes. I know you didn’t want that yet, but I know what it’s like to live with you now. I don’t want things to go back to the way they were. I don’t want to go back to living here by myself.”

Danny shut and locked the bedroom door and crowded himself into Lacey’s space. He framed her face and looked her all over as if she had been missing and finally found and he wanted to inspect to make sure she was real.

“I’m falling for you, Lacey.” He whispered and rested his head against hers, eyes closed tight as he prayed for her to feel the same way. He wasn’t ready to say the words yet.

Lacey leaned up and kissed him, this beautiful man always so open and filled with love. How could she not fall for him too. She didn’t need or want rescuing, and Danny never tried to. He just made her and Clara feel like what they were: equal, a priority. Family.


	16. Chapter 16

Christmas had been so long and emotional that by the time Lacey got ready for bed she was a zombie. She crawled in next to Danny and passed out within minutes.

Going to bed early had it’s benefits though. Lacey woke up around five the next morning, rested, reset and running back through Danny’s offer. Never in her life had she expected to move in with a partner so fast, but never in her life had she fallen so hard for someone either.

“Morning.” Danny murmured, his voice dry and scratchy with sleep.

“Morning.” Lacey smiled, her voice deep and sultry.

Danny noticed her change in demeanor immediately. He opened his arms up from his side of the bed, hoping she’d come and snuggle with him. She did.

“I love waking up like this.” He whispered into her hair as he hugged her close.

“Me too. Mornings with you are my favorite.”

Lacey threw a leg up around her boyfriend’s gorgeous body and squirmed in even closer. Danny pulled her leg up higher, thoroughly enjoying their current entanglement.

Danny slid his hand further and further along her thigh until he reached her hip. He continued roaming, his hand sliding to her ass, his grip making Lacey rock her core into his side.

“Remember coming all over me while we sat on a toilet together?” Lacey snickered into his side.

“Hmm, no, I don’t recall.” Danny gave a husky grunt.

“It’s those special holiday memories for me.”

Danny rolled them over so he was nestled on top of her.

“It’s the follow up that counts.” He kissed her, morning breath be damned.

Danny simulated his rhythm between her pajama covered legs while Lacey worked to pull Danny’s boxers down with her feet.

“Have I told you that you should always sleep shirtless like this?” Lacey ran her hands all over his body.

“You haven’t, but that’s wonderful to hear because I usually always sleep naked.” Danny kicked his boxers the rest of the way off and resumed rubbing his junk against her.

“So you’ve been dressing up just for me?” Lacey smiled in between his kisses.

“Indeed.”

“Then I respectfully ask you to stop doing that.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Danny agreed and slid his hand between them and into Lacey’s pants, “Can we talk about birth control?” He asked a bit unfairly as he rubbed Lacey’s warm, wet pussy.

“Sure, what would you like me to say no to?” Lacey smiled big and rolled her hips against his hand.

“Is there a scenario in your mind in which I could ever have you raw?” He asked honestly, doubling down on the pressure against her clit.

“Of course.”

Danny’s head dropped down as if he was bowing before her and the body he wanted so badly to have bare and free.

“What scenario might that be exactly?” He slopped the question greedily against the side of her face as he withdrew his hand and rutted further against her.

“The exact scenario—“ Lacey reached for his bum and encouraged his motion, “Will be after we’re married.”

“Is this like, ‘no sex in the house’ though, or is that your final answer?”

“Final answer.”

Danny gave her a single nod and knelt up to grab a condom from his drawer, handing it to her while he pulled her pajama pants off. He crawled up and straddled Lacey’s body until his knees were almost into her armpits.

Lacey secured the condom on him and Danny crawled back down to resume his spot between her legs, kissing anything and everything as he went.

“Thank you for your assistance.” Danny said as he shoved her shirt up and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, something he seemed to love doing as part of his prep routine.

Lacey opened up her hips for him a little, her legs not quite where he’d like them to be.

“C’mon, Lace—“

Danny gave her nipple a gentle lick, something that set her on fire.

“Dance with me—“ He requested hungrily until she let her knees fall completely to the side and gave him the access he was looking for.

He didn’t even need to line himself up, instead Danny danced his hips around until he found the right spot and slid himself in. His eyes were thankful.

Danny fucked her right, eventually building up and nailing her to the mattress. He made sure her clit had full contact with every slapping thrust he pounded her with. Lacey had never had sex like that before and the fingernails that she clawed into his back let him know just how she felt about it.

“Oh fuck, Danny. You always make it so good—“

Lacey’s eyes rolled and she just let it happen, surrendering to Danny’s skilled lovemaking and enjoying ever second of it. Danny cradled her head and shoulders lovingly, maintaining eye contact as he too neared his prize.

Lacey watched his perfect parted lips pulse as he exhaled through them in perfect time. His eyes twinkled and said everything there was to say without speaking a damn word.

His head became heavier and heavier and he dropped it beside hers as he grunted loudly through his finish. As he calmed down he lifted his head back up and stared at Lacey’s beautiful face, smoothing her hair and planting small kisses on each of her cheeks.

“I love you.” He tested the words out loud and nothing had ever felt more right. He nodded to himself and licked his lips before affirming his feelings again, “I’m in love you.”

“Aww, Danny.” Lacey moved his wild hair out of his face too, holding it back so she could really focus on him, “I love you too.”

“Did you think about staying?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling good about it.”

“Really?!” His excitement made her heart burst.

“Really.”

******

They showered together, dressed quickly and Lacey scooted out to get Clara ready for her super fun day with their father.

She had put Samuel out of her mind in order to be fully present with Danny when they had their time together. Her bond with her boyfriend was something she cherished and aimed to cultivate and preserve in every way possible.

When she was with Danny she felt safe, loved, like she was home. She was not about to let someone who chose not to be part of her life just come back and take a single thing away from her. Not one moment.

Clara needed more though and Lacey recognized that. Her little sister had lost so much and had to endure feelings no child should ever have to. Lacey couldn’t imagine losing her mother at nine and having her father disappear.

For all those reasons, she dragged herself up to the loft to help support her sister in reconnecting with her daddy.

“Hey sleepyhead, you gotta get moving—“ Lacey rubbed her sister’s back lovingly.

Clara sat up slowly before her brain connected that she had plans with her dad.

“Are you coming with us?!” She asked excitedly while Lacey worked on her hair.

“No, C. This day is all about you. I have to tell you that he’s leaving again soon, tonight I think.”

“How long this time?” Clara was disappointed.

“I honestly don’t know. He’s choosing this though, Clara. There’s nothing you can say or do to change it. You didn’t do this. He loves you, he just doesn’t want to be part of our lives full time.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no good answer, but we’ll just love daddy the way he wants. We’ll see him when he decides to visit. In the mean time we have our own lives we’re living and we have each other. I’ll always be here for you, every day. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Want to know a secret?” Lacey smiled, genuinely happy.

Clara’s eyes changed from disappointment in her father to intrigue about a big sister secret, “Yes!”

“I’m in love with Danny.”

“Aww, I love Danny too!” Clara said with a big smile.

“How would you feel about staying here at his house for longer than we planned? What if this becomes our house too?”

Clara nodded emphatically, “I would love that! I can actually sleep up here and it’s so close to the theatre. Danny’s here, it’s perfect.” She was beaming.

“Okay then, we’ll stay as long as we’re welcome.”

******

“Did he call you?”

“No, Danny, he didn’t call me.” Lacey snipped at him.

Danny called Samuel’s cell again and it went straight to voicemail. Lacey waited as he ended the call and quickly began another one.

“He’s not coming.” Clara decided and sighed as she sank into the couch.

“Yes hello, I’m calling to see if Samuel Porter checked out already? He did. At what time? Oh last night, alright, thank you.” Danny hung up and looked at Lacey, “He came all this way—“

“You know what?” Lacey marched into the living room, “I’m not going to make excuses for daddy, he promised you something and he didn’t do it. It’s not nice and it’s okay to be angry and feel sad about it, but you know what? He’s not in charge of our lives, we are. Let’s just be thankful we saw him yesterday and continue on with the things we can control.”

“I guess.” Clara was pissed.

“CC, grab your ballet stuff, let’s just go into rehearsal early and work on your corrections before the show tonight.”

“Okay, Danny.” Clara slid off the couch and stomped up the stairs.

“I want you to go and do you shit. Work, take a nap, go for a walk, I don’t care, but you just worked more than a full time job and dealt with me and my mother for the last week plus your father and how all of that shit affects your sister and you’re still here trying to make shit work and keep her happy. You need to take a break.”

Lacey was blown away by that, she didn’t realize how much she was dealing with until Danny told her to slow the fuck down.

“I—I don’t even know where to start—“

“You’re incredible and I’m so lucky to know you and have you in my life.” Danny pulled Lacey’s chin up for a quick kiss.

“So what’s the plan then?”

“You do you. I’ll take her in, we’ll get to work. I’ll take care of lunch and dinner for her and you just show up tonight and watch her sparkle even more than she did before.”

“Sounds amazing actually.” She smiled, “We’ll FaceTime until you’re in the theatre.”

“She’ll be fine.” Danny stressed.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you—“

“Yes it is. You trust Archie with her, he picked her up from class—“

“I’ve known Archie for years and years. We don’t know you on that level yet, we just don’t.”

“I’ll never let anything happen to her.”

“Listen, I only get one shot with her. If anything happens to her I’ll lose my fucking mind.” Lacey said matter-of-factly, her face dead serious.

“FaceTime it is.” Danny agreed, the whole point of this was to reduce her stress not to compound it.

Danny called Lacey’s phone via FaceTime when he heard Clara coming back down the stairs. Lacey accepted and hoped Danny really understood.

“I’m ready.” Clara trudged back downstairs with her stuff.

“I bet you five dollars I can beat you to the theatre doors.” Danny challenged.

“You’re on!” Clara shouted and bolted out the front door.

******

Lacey was already showered and dressed for the day so she went for a walk. By lunch time she had called a few clients back and cleaned up a few deals.

Samuel: I just got your messages  
Lacey: Oh, you’re not dead  
Samuel: I caught a red-eye last night  
Lacey: You’re a coward  
Samuel: Have Clara call me sometime so I can explain and keep in touch with her  
Lacey: I will make sure Clara has your contact info. Whether or not she calls you will be up to her. I’m not making her call you.  
Samuel: Fair enough. I don’t care what you think is the truth, I love you and I always will  
Lacey: The truth is, don’t make promises you have no intention of keeping if you want any kind of relationship with either of your daughters. Do I make myself clear?  
Samuel: Thank Danny for me  
Lacey: No

Lacey turned his notifications off and centered herself. She promised herself she’d only read and respond to his nonsense on her terms and not on-demand like this.

Closer to show time Lacey changed into a fancier outfit and made her way over to the theatre. Danny had sent her lots of pics and videos from their afternoon together, it looked like he was keeping her busy and her spirits high and for that she was thankful.

“Lacey, wow, you look amazing.”

The familiar face was not someone she expected to run into today but wasn’t a bad thing either.

“Thanks, Archie, so do you!” Lacey smiled warmly at her ex, “Where are you sitting?”

“In my soon-to-be girlfriend’s seats—“ Archie said, watching carefully for Lacey’s reaction.

“Regina?” Lacey was surprised, Archie was kind of prickly and could be a tough nut to crack sometimes.

“She’s different. Super busy like you and I were but she’s really kind of an asshole like me.”

“You’re not an asshole.”

“I’m an asshole.” Archie shook his head yes, “We’re in two different industries so we kind of balance each other out I guess. It’s been working so far.” Archie smiled, “Thank you for introducing us, truly.”

“Well, Regina’s seats are right next to Danny’s, want to be my date?”

“Absolutely. I’m psyched to see Clara too.” Archie admitted as they walked toward the front of the theatre together.

Lacey took a selfie of her and Archie holding up peace signs and whatnot and texted it to Danny.

Danny: Your master plan seems to be working  
Lacey: Mwahahaha  
Danny: Regina hasn’t shut up about him  
Lacey: I am sure that’s not awkward at all :) How’s my sister?  
Danny: Spunky as ever. She took the corrections well, can’t wait to see what she does with it. They’re keeping her improv dance with me, she’s brilliant!

Danny sent a pic of him and Clara with Regina standing behind them and retuning the peace sign. Weirdest family ever she thought, showing Archie the pic too.

“Are you happy?” Archie asked, ready to take a bigger step away from everything of theirs that he had clung to.

“I’m so happy.” Lacey smiled, “Now it’s your turn.”

“Okay.” Archie smiled back.

The lights dimmed and Archie and Lacey cozied in to watch the people they loved so much do the thing they all loved to do most.

At the end, Archie was the first to shoot up for the ovation that this cast had received on Christmas Eve, everyone in the theatre following suit. Clara rallied her peers again and they completed their bow together before filtering off stage.

“Wow.” Archie was amazed.

They headed backstage and greeted everyone, Archie giving Regina some love still awkward for all of them to see.

“Clara-ohara-bear-a! I have never seen you dance like that! I’m so proud of you!” Archie scooped her up in a super big hug.

“Thanks, Archie!” Clara squeezed him back.

“You all were just as mesmerizing as the last time if not more.” Lacey praised Danny.

“Honestly, you and Danny are such perfect dance partners. The story was really nice.” Archie offered without a single hint of jealousy or pain like in the past.

“Thanks man.” Danny appreciated that.

“Okay, while I have you all here—I know it’s a couple days away, but I worked on a little something this afternoon and I’d like to officially invite you to a New Year’s Eve party at the penthouse.” Lacey shared and bit her lip, so excited to ring in the new year and all the promise it held.

“You booked it?” Archie was surprised.

“I did. Cleared a party with the owner as well. We can watch the fireworks all over New York from up there.” Lacey smiled between Archie and Danny.

“Penthouse?” Regina asked, looking at Archie.

“That’s right, they don’t know—“ Archie realized.

“I’ve been there.” Danny shrugged smugly, somehow thinking that was important to clear up.

“Danny’s been up there?”

Archie had gone there with Lacey pretty regularly. He knew she loved to make love above the city lights and since they couldn’t have sex anywhere other than the office, the penthouse had become their bedroom away from bedroom so to speak.

“Why haven’t I gone there yet?” Regina asked, irritated she wasn’t part of this pseudo mile high club.

“Guys, can we just stop? I want to take Clara up there and just have a fun night. Please?” Lacey didn’t want this to dissolve into another pissing match.

“I want to go to a party and see fireworks!” Clara was on board.

The rest of them agreed, Regina and Danny taking over inviting a smaller more intimate group of cast and crew than the Christmas party. Archie invited Rico and Lacey invited Whitney.

They said their goodbyes and all went their separate ways into their new normals. Clara walked several feet ahead while Danny and Lacey chatted hand-in-hand on their way home.

Once inside, Danny kept Lacey’s wine glass full. They all changed into Karen’s gifted pajamas and realized she had picked the same pattern for each of them. They took a family style pic for her and then relaxed in the living room, talking about their day and eventually watching a movie together.

“She’s out.” Danny pointed about halfway through the movie.

“Can you carry her?”

“Lifting ballerinas is literally my job, actually. I do believe I can do that.” Danny smiled and cradled Clara in his arms.

Lacey followed him up to the loft and tucked her sister in before heading down to join Danny in their bedroom. She locked the door behind her which had become synonymous with whomever did the locking being horny as hell.

Danny pulled his pajama top off and Lacey sighed in disappointment. He turned and waited for her to elaborate.

“You always take your own damn shirt off.” She pouted, not really sad at all but at the same time, totally sad.

Danny laughed and put it back on for her. Lacey sucked in her bottom lip and slid her hands underneath the obnoxious snowflake print and peeled the shirt off of his stunning body.

“Thank you.” Lacey uttered and pressed a kiss onto his chest.

“Can I please remove yours now? Nothing says ‘please fuck me’ quite like wearing matching pajamas from your mother.”

Danny said it so seriously that Lacey lost her shit laughing and just held her arms over her head while she waited for him to take them off. Danny did.

Danny’s eyes raked over Lacey’s beautiful body. He knew what he had standing in front of him and the tiny thong she chose to wear was literally like the icing on the cake.

He walked up close and walked her backward until her back slammed against the wall just hard enough to take her breath away. Danny pulled her wrists above her head, intertwined their fingers and firmly pressed them against the wall as well.

Danny kissed her, hot and aggressive. He nipped at her lips, ghosted his teeth along her jaw and bit the ridge of her ear gently before moving down and sucking her neck.

“Mmm, Danny—“

He released her hands and brushed his fingers lightly down her rib cage, shooting goose bumps all over her body, her nipples pebbling up.

She took the chance to thread her fingers through Danny’s hair and gripped just tight enough to finally get a reciprocal reaction out of him. His nostrils flared and she pulled him close for another scorching kiss.

“Fuck—“ Danny liked that.

As their kiss continued, it turned back to sweet and loving. Lacey melted against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Danny reached down and hoisted her up, Lacey wrapping her long legs around his waist.

He walked her over to the bed and plopped them both down, ditching their underwear and moving to lay down flat on his back. He motioned for her, Lacey not sure exactly what he was looking for.

“Come have a seat.” Danny suggested.

Lacey crawled over and reached for his condom drawer. Once she had one in hand he took it from her and laid it beside them.

“Thanks, now please back that shit up and take a seat.” He waved her up and that’s when she realized what he was asking for.

“Back it up—“ Lacey wanted to clarify.

“I think I was clear.” Danny didn’t want to wait anymore and started tugging on her playfully, trying to coax her away from whatever sudden shyness she was experiencing.

“I just—“

“You don’t want me to eat it?” Danny asked, his cheeks rosy and so ready to taste her.

“That’s a trick question.”

Danny graced her with one of his deep jock-like giggles that made her swoon, “Babe, why are you shy now, is there like a problem?”

“No—“

“Okay then, c’mere.”

Lacey eventually leaned over to give him a blow job and Danny worked to drag her hips around and over to straddle his body in reverse, her core resting on his chest.

Danny played with her ass and continued inching her hips backward until she had no where else to go. He lifted his head and began licking and sucking all of her slicked up folds, his tongue finding her sweet spot and latching on.

Lacey eventually let go and lowered herself onto his face. Danny gripped around each of her thighs, holding her in place.

“Oh shit—“

Lacey leaned forward and got back to work sucking Danny’s cock, the two of them driving each other wild. After a few minutes Danny had to stop her before this was all over too soon.

Lacey crawled down his body and took residence hovering backward above his junk. Danny scrambled for the condom and threaded himself into it just before Lacey slid him inside of her in reverse.

Danny kept his knees splayed super wide so Lacey had plenty of room to push back on him, fucking him like she was a goddamn expert. He reached down and held her hips from behind, not moving her, but feeling her natural rhythm as she pumped her body up and down.

“Yess, Lacey—damn.” He hissed.

Lacey picked up the pace and reached down to cup his balls, massaging them a little before pressing them against her clit, something no one had ever down to him before.

“Careful—“ He warned her he was never going to make it if she didn’t let go of his balls.

Lacey actually bent down lower and turned her head to give him the most evil smile. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Danny could play that game too and crunched himself upward until he was almost sitting, just elevated enough so he could reach around with one hand to spilt her lower lips apart further and use his other hand to rub her clit properly.

“Danny!” She never let go of his balls, the two of them working extra hard to make each other come.

Lacey used her secret weapon and squeezed her core tight as she bounced selflessly, Danny now bucking up into her as he dominated her clit with one hand.

“I’m fucking coming—“ Danny announced, his circular hand motions now becoming more like triangles as his orgasm ceased his brain function.

“Danny, Danny—“ Lacey chanted, leaning forward and letting her ass slap down as she took him to the hilt over and over.

She squeezed his ankles in silence as she finally came, her juices flowing freely all over Danny’s crotch. He panicked a little thinking the condom broke.

Once she stopped twitching, Danny lifted her ass up only to be met with a perfectly intact, yet very full, condom and lots of clear liquid trickling out of his girlfriend’s perfect vagina.

“You fucking did that—“ Lacey muffled, her face still smooshed into the foot of the bed, too throughly blissed out to move at the moment.

“Holy shit, that’s incredible.” Danny marveled at making Lacey squirt.

“Best orgasm ever—you and your fucking perfectly shaped penis, damn.”

“Oh, this is working out very very well.”

Danny’s confidence in their sex life was contagious and the two of them had never felt this level of intimacy ever.

He sat up and made quick work of discarding the condom. He pulled Lacey up next to him, snuggling their sweaty bodies in tight together.

“You’re perfect for me.” Danny nuzzled into the side of Lacey’s face.

The butterflies she had felt inside for Danny from the moment she laid eyes on him were stronger than they had ever been. Every day they spent together was busy, full and centered around family and their love for each other.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow.” Lacey pulled his arms around her tighter.


	17. Chapter 17

“Do you ever get tired of dancing?” Lacey wondered out loud, lazing naked on her belly next to Danny in their bed.

“Never.” Danny admitted, continuously stroking gently up and down her back.

“Have you thought about what you want to do after you retire or if you get hurt or something?”

“Of course, and it scares the hell out of me because I have no clue.”

“Seriously?”

“I’ve been dancing since I was three. I don’t have a degree or any another skill set really. I’ve thought about teaching classes maybe—“

“You need future career goals.” Lacey insisted, “What about being a realtor?”

“I don’t know anything about that—“

“Right, but you can learn. I have my own agency, You’d learn from the best.” Lacey smiled.

“I guess I’m just drawn to artistic stuff, I write songs.”

“Whaaat?”

“I paint too.” Danny shrugged.

“Really? I’d love to see some of your work, hear your songs.”

“Yeah, definitely. What about you? What are your hobbies?”

“I paint too, actually. Not since I’ve been taking care of Clara—“

“I think we need a life reset. I haven’t been doing anything either since the holiday show prep began months ago.”

“Is good sex considered a hobby?” Lacey giggled, her early morning climax still fresh on her mind.

“Sex with you is certainly more than a hobby.” Danny emphasized, leaning over to kiss the side of Lacey’s head, “But that’s just it, I don’t want us to go from a temporarily paused version of ourselves and then try going straight into building this life together.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Things are happy for me, I’m happy. I want to make sure you’re happy too and that we’re whole people with our own stuff. It’s so easy to get lost in a relationship and I don’t want to do that again.”

“I’m happy too.” Lacey smiled, “Okay, let’s work on ourselves.” She agreed.

“Lacey?” Clara knocked on the bedroom door.

Lacey scrambled off the bed and threw her robe on, turning to wait until Danny disappeared into the bathroom before opening the door.

“Hey doofus, what’s up?” Lacey smiled.

“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that.”

“Ooo, burn!” Lacey giggled and gave Clara a fist-bump.

“I’m hungry.”

“Okay, I’m going to get dressed real quick and then I’ll be right down.”

Clara headed downstairs and Lacey dropped her robe in exchange for something warm and comfy. It was New Year’s Eve and while she had planned a sexy outfit for their party tonight, all she wanted was a casual, easy day with her little family.

Whitney: Don’t be mad at me

Lacey heard her phone notification and quickly hopped around to get her sweatpants on before grabbing it.

Lacey: Is this about 108 Park? I told you they wouldn’t accept our paperwork  
Whitney: It’s about Danny  
Lacey: ?

Lacey glanced up at the bathroom door, Danny making no indication he was exiting any time soon. Lacey grabbed a t-shirt and yanked it on while her assistant typed whatever she was about to tell her.

Whitney: Remember the background check you asked me to do? Well, I have been kind of checking on him every so often.  
Lacey: What? Why?  
Whitney: You know what it’s like with these New York guys, I wanted to corroborate his stories for a little bit while you two got to know each other better  
Lacey: Okay, and?  
Whitney: Well there’s been a change  
Lacey: To what?  
Whitney: His money  
Lacey: So?  
Whitney: So, do you have a joint account yet?  
Lacey: No. Whitney, what is the problem?  
Whitney: He made a large withdrawal recently and I’m trying to make sure he’s not stealing from you  
Lacey: I told you he got me those Cartier bracelets  
Whitney: I saw that, but there’s another big one and I just haven’t heard you say anything about it  
Lacey: It’s his money, he’s not his dad  
Whitney: You don’t know that. Did he buy like a car or something? Maybe he gave money to his mom?  
Lacey: A car? How much are we talking?  
Whitney: $19K

While it wasn’t a crime to spend your own money, moving nineteen thousand dollars was significant and she hadn’t seen or heard anything from Danny about any big payments or purchases.

Lacey: You can’t see where the money went?  
Whitney: No, but it came out of his savings  
Lacey: Let me know if you find out anything else  
Whitney: 10-4 boss

Lacey cringed at herself for essentially telling Whitney to keep spying on her boyfriend. How would she even bring this up with Danny? Should she? They hadn’t discussed finances yet or how they would like to run the house together. Maybe she’d start there.

“I’ve gotta remember to get more lightbulbs for the bathroom vanity.” Danny said as he strolled back into the bedroom. His voice startling her and making her bobble her phone for a second, “Jesus, I don’t mean to scare you.” Danny snickered at her.

Lacey recovered and giggled nervously as she locked her screen.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t, yeah you startled me. Clara’s up, omelets?”

“Sounds good!”

******

After breakfast, Danny disappeared into the basement studio while Lacey did some work in the office and Clara played with Danny’s PS5.

The revelation about Danny’s money moves weighed on Lacey’s mind for the rest of morning. As the day wore on, Danny finished up and headed back up to see the girls.

“Hey there tiny dancer.” Lacey joked as she prepared a giant salad for their dinner.

“Look at you doing all this domestic shit.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Lacey smiled, she never had the time or desire to do this stuff on any sort of a regular basis.

Danny hugged her from behind and stole some of the chicken that she had just chopped up.

“Keep your hands out of there!”

Danny grabbed a water bottle and scooted himself onto the stool at the edge of the counter to watch Lacey mill about. Lacey decided to try and figure this money thing out before she drove herself crazy.

“How’s your mom doing with her event planning?” Lacey asked lightly, she had to start somewhere.

“Good, she’s been doing it so long she has pretty big annual customers.”

“Does she make good money doing stuff like that?”

“Not in the beginning, but now she’s got that stuff down. She makes more than I do.”

Lacey nodded, deciding that gifting money to his mom was probably not it.

“Why do you ask?”

“I was just thinking about our conversation earlier, maybe you’d want to try a job like that when you’re done with dancing?”

“God no, it’s so much stress and you have to have this whole network of connections to help when stuff goes wrong. I’d rather just rob a bank.” He laughed, making Lacey’s eyes pop open wide in shock.

Danny saw her face, “I’m joking, I’m joking—“

“You could always be an Uber driver.” Lacey suggested.

“That means I’d have to buy a car and I really don’t want to go through all that.”

“You don’t want to buy a car?”

“I like cars, but I live in the city, I don’t need one.” Danny shrugged, “You really want me to nail down a post-dance career goal, huh?”

“I’m not trying to pressure you I just think it’s good to at least have a direction in mind.”

“You’re right, I’ll start thinking about it.”

Lacey pretended to focus on chopping while her mind cycled through about a thousand thoughts. He hadn’t purchased a car. What the hell did he spend all that money on?

“We should probably talk about bills and stuff. How do you want to split everything?” She tried again.

“Everything is set up on automatic payments so I can send you the bill copies and you can just pay me half if that works?”

“Sounds fair. Did you recently pay the property taxes?”

“I paid in advance last year because I could. I don’t have to pay again until next year, November I believe.”

Shit, it wasn’t that either.

“Okay. Do you like to gamble?” This unknown was killing her.

“Gamble? Like slot machines and stuff?”

“Yeah, or like horse races and sports betting or fights—“

“Nah, no. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Vegas someday, have some crazy fun time, but I work my ass off for my money and gambling is way too risky for me.”

Danny watched her intently as Lacey assembled their dinner. Her mind was on overdrive and he was curious what was eating at her.

“Clara! Dinner!” Lacey called for her sister.

“Hey, what’s up?” Danny tried to diagnose whatever was sucking her energy away from him right now.

“Hmm?”

“You’re a million miles away. Everything alright?”

“Oh, sorry—I’m just trying to make sure I have everything ready for tonight. I’m a little preoccupied.”

Clara made her way into the kitchen and slid onto the stool next to Danny.

“You’ve been playing that thing for like five hours.” Lacey griped.

“It’s fun!” Clara smiled.

“Did you call pop?” Lacey asked as she slid Clara her plate.

“Voicemail.”

“Nice.” Lacey shook her head.

They ate in relative silence. Danny knew there was more on Lacey’s mind than the party but it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it right now, at least not in front of Clara.

Clara and Danny did the dishes while Lacey escaped to start getting ready for their night.

“Dinner was great, thank you.” Danny said as he entered their shared bathroom. Lacey was halfway into her make up routine, “Shower?”

“I’m literally putting my make up on right now—“ She was annoyed.

“Right, sorry.”

Danny stripped down and hopped in, causing the mirrors to fog up. Lacey sighed heavily, grabbed her stuff and went to sit on the floor of their bedroom in front of the full length mirror.

It took all of five minutes before Danny was back out and toweling off. Lacey pretended not to watch him in the mirror as he fussed with his wet hair and decided on what he was going to wear. Damn it she was so lucky.

“Hey Lace, what are you wearing?” He looked over and busted her in the mirror, “Were you checking me out?”

Lacey smiled, “Yep.” She giggled to herself and then dipped her mascara wand back in it’s tube, “I’m wearing a gold dress.”

“Ooo, like a gown or—“

Lacey pointed to the bed, “It’s right there, it’s a beaded party dress.”

Danny walked over and checked out the dress, it was super short and flirty. He couldn’t wait to see it on her.

“I think I’ll wear this then—“ Danny held up a geometric print shirt and charcoal suit pants, “Hair up?”

“Sure.” Lacey shrugged.

“Babe. Is something wrong?”

Danny wanted to address this attitude before it consumed their night.

“Something has to be wrong because I don’t care what your hair looks like?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

“I just—“ Lacey slapped her hands down, “You’d tell me if you were in trouble right?”

“Trouble?” Danny looked at her in confusion, there really was something wrong.

“With anything, physically, legally, financially—“ She drew out the last one.

“Of course, why are you upset you right now?”

“I’m not, I just want to make sure that you know you can tell me anything. I don’t want us to hide anything.”

“I agree, I’m taking us very seriously, I promise. I’m not hiding anything. You?”

Lacey shook her head no, “You’re not hiding anything?”

“No.”

Lacey took a deep breath and decided to put a pin in this until after the party. It was too much money going out for no apparent reason to just let it go.

She was giving him the opportunity to tell her about any problems and he was choosing not to tell her, what else could she do?

Her plan was to make some fun memories with Clara after such a weird, emotional Christmas. After that, she’d confront Danny and the result of that would determine their fate together.

******

“Rico! You look amazing!” Lacey gushed and gave her friend a big hug.

“Thanks!” He pulled Whitney in close to his side, “Whitney dressed me.” He looked over at Whitney like she hung the moon.

Lacey looked between the two of them suspiciously.

“Rico, can you please get me a refill?” Whitney asked, it was time to fill Lacey in.

“Girl—“ Lacey waited for an explanation.

“It just happened. We went to sign paperwork together for an old deal and he was just so adorable, well you know—“

“You’re dating Rico?!” Lacey could not even believe she was putting those words together into a sentence.

“He’s not usually my type, I know.”

“I’d say.” Lacey had always known that Whitney preferred women.

“Fun fact, he has an eleven inch penis I’m not even joking.”

“Okay! Okay, I did not need to know that.” Lacey took a step back.

Whitney laughed, “So what did you find out?”

“As far as I can tell, it wasn’t a loan. He didn’t buy a car. He doesn’t gamble. I asked him straight up if he’d tell me if he was in trouble, he said yes and then proceeded not to elaborate at all.”

“What about his dad? Could he be paying old debts for him?” Whitney wondered, a little nervous for her at this point.

“That’s a good question, we haven’t really talked about his father.”

“I hate to mention this too, but, could it be drug related?”

“He doesn’t do drugs—“ Lacey was quick to shoot that down.

“He doesn’t have to. I’m wondering if he’s trafficking drugs or something, it’s just such a large amount—“

“Ladies! How is your night going?” Danny smiled as he walked up behind Lacey and wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey big guy, you cut off yet?” Lacey looked back at her buzzed boyfriend through a bit of a felony filter.

“I have cut myself off, yes.” He declared and kissed Lacey’s neck gently, “Bathroom?” He whispered in her ear so only she could hear.

Lacey shook her head no. Danny pouted and pulled her backward against his obvious erection. Who knew Danny was such a horny drunk?

“Here you go!” Rico returned with a fresh glass of champagne for Whitney.

Lacey immediately looked at Rico’s crotch and back up at Whitney, making them both laugh.

“Thanks.” Whitney accepted and they tapped their glasses together before she gulped half the glass down.

The junior ballet members were all dancing and showing off while the rest of the company, plus their dates, Archie and a few of their client friends all watched and sipped champagne.

“I didn’t realize we’d actually be hosting a kids dance party tonight.” Lacey smiled, thankful she had hired a caterer to deal with all these people.

“You need a refill?” Whitney pointed to Lacey’s empty hands.

“Not me, I have Clara here tonight so I have to be a good girl.”

Danny leaned his head down to bury it against the side of her face again, “No you don’t.” He grunted quietly.

This time his voice and the non-stop heat seeking missile that was knocking against her back door over and over started her engine. Lacey slid her hands down to join the death grip that Danny had on her waist. He squeezed even tighter.

“Hey Whit, can you keep an eye on Clara for a couple of minutes?” She asked innocently, “I have to go check on the caterer, see if they need anything.”

“Sure thing!” Whitney searched Clara out, pointed to her dancing with the rest of the kids and gave Lacey a thumbs up.

Lacey took Danny’s hand and dragged him along behind her and into the laundry room. It was furthest away from the party patrons and had a door that locked.

Danny lifted Lacey up the second the door shut and sat her on top of the dryer. Lacey wrapped her legs around his waist while he pressed himself against her center.

“Enjoying the party?” Lacey asked in the sexiest voice he’d ever heard.

“So much.” Was all his slightly champagned brain could come up with.

Their kisses were sloppy, needy. Lacey went straight for his belt and frantically worked to unfasten it as quickly as possible.

“Please tell me you brought a condom—“ Lacey wasn’t sure she’d be strong enough to say no this time if he didn’t.

“I’ll never make that mistake again.” Danny winked and bent down to fish it out of his pocket.

Danny pulled Lacey down and spun her around, bending her over the top of the dryer and flipping the skirt of her dress up. He yanked her thong down and slipped the condom on, leaning over her and grabbing the back of the dryer as he pushed in.

“Oh yess—“ Lacey almost purred.

Lacey was pinned, Danny holding her firmly against the dryer and pushing in and out at a fast enough pace that she could barely push back on him.

“I love this dress.” He leaned over her further and pumped even faster.

“Danny—“ Lacey loved every minute of it.

“You have been there every single time I’ve needed you—“ Danny grunted.

“I need it too.” Lacey panted, arching her back to get the angle just right.

Danny let go of the dryer and held her hips instead, the two of them working together now to get what they needed. Lacey left her face and chest flat on the dryer while she reached her arms back lifted her ass for him.

“Like that, let me in—“ Danny huffed and pulled her hips backward over and over.

“Don’t stop D, please—“ Lacey begged him, she wanted this orgasm so bad.

“Don’t start talking, I’ll nut right now—“

He was so sensitive to her voice, he closed his eyes to regain his focus. Lacey was close enough to her own finish that she decided to play with him.

“Give it to me, please—“

“Lacey—“ He warned her for about a second before he realized she was doing it on purpose so he played back, “Look at me—“

Lacey looked back, her mouth open while they fucked each other with equal want and need.

“I’m the only one who gets this pussy—“ Danny asserted.

“Whenever you want it—“

Lacey’s voice faded and she was there, enjoying their filthy conversation as much as he was. Danny’s hips doubled up and he was coming right behind her.

Once he stopped pulsing, Lacey managed to turn herself around to face him. She pulled the used condom off of him, wrapped it in a paper towel and stuffed it in the front of her thong in order to hide it before she went to the bathroom to flush it.

Danny hugged her lovingly while he worked to get his breathing under control.

“Fuck, Lacey. That was so hot. I swear I’m not a filthy asshole—“

Lacey smiled wickedly at him, “I do know that. That was fun.” She kissed him, “This shit’s between us.”

“Thank you.” He kissed her back.

“You are the only one who gets this pussy, there was no lie.” Lacey winked at him.

“Whenever I want it?” He searched her mouth with his tongue after asking her to confirm her previous offer.

“You keep talking and we’ll have to leave early.” Lacey rested her face against his chest, Damn she could go for round two.

“I love everything about you.” Danny hugged her close.

His words started her thought train back up about his huge money transfer. This really was a problem if they were going to continue this relationship. She’d definitely ask him after the party and prayed he wouldn’t freak out and that he’d provide a reason that would make sense.

******

The party was a hit and everyone was feeling great. The food was delicious and the kids truly made the mood of the party feel hopeful and happy about the pending new year.

As countdown time grew closer, the guests spread out all around the penthouse. The space had a three hundred sixty degree view of the city so everyone was free to watch all the different celebrations and fireworks that were about to be set off all around them.

Archie and Regina, Whitney and Rico and Lacey and Danny were all facing Times Square while the entire junior company squad, Clara included, sat crisscross applesauce together on the complete opposite side.

Danny squared up behind Lacey and just enjoyed having his arms around her as they looked out over the city they loved so much.

“Ten! Nine!” Everyone began the final countdown and Lacey turned to face Danny as they got down to the end, “One! Happy New Year!” Everyone screamed and the city erupted below them.

As their guests began singing Auld Lang Syne Danny smiled warmly and leaned down to kiss Lacey softly. He wanted to make sure she felt his love and all of the excitement that he held for the start of this new year and their new life together.

As he pulled back from their steamy kiss he paused and stared at her, “Happy New Year.” He swallowed hard, “Marry me?” He added softly.

Lacey’s face ticked back a little in surprise and she watched as Danny slid a flat box from his pocket and dropped to his knee beside her. The people around them were their closest friends and they all began to notice Danny’s surprise proposal. They all started shouting and clapping.

Lacey covered her mouth in total and complete shock, her eyes darting to an equally shocked Whitney and then over to a super excited Clara. She hadn’t even looked at the ring. Was this really happening?

“Yes.” Lacey nodded and Danny jumped up and embraced her before getting swarmed by everyone’s hugs and well-wishes.

Once the commotion died down, Danny presented the ring to her again and this time Lacey got her first good look at it.

“Oh my god, Danny—“

Danny proudly pulled the ring out of the box and slid it on Lacey’s left ring finger, pushing it up as far as it would go and making an exaggerated point to make sure it would stay there. Lacey giggled at that, this man was so sweet.

“It’s two carats, oval, obviously. Halo with the diamond band. I knew when I saw it that it was made for you.”

Lacey suddenly connected the dots and she whipped around and held her hand up at Whitney, pointing to it. Whitney got it then too and face-palmed herself from across the room. The $19K was definitely how much the ring cost. She let it all go.

******

Danny and Lacey made it home safely in the wee hours of the morning and tucked Clara in before retreating to their room. Danny locked the door behind him and danced Lacey around their shared space.

“I promise I’ll put you first, every day. I love our little family and I want you to have all my babies.” Danny kissed her.

Lacey kissed him back and laughed in his arms as they continued dancing.

“I promise the same. The babies will have to wait though, I’m thinking maybe ten years?”

“Ten, really? You think my pull out game will be that strong, because I intend to tear this shit up on the daily after we walk down the aisle.”

“Is that so? Maybe we should set the nursery up now then.”

Lacey smiled and rested her face on Danny’s shoulder as he swayed her expertly from side to side.

“I love you, Lacey.”

“I love you, too.”

“You’re my forever pas de deux partner.” He dipped her.

“Promise?” Lacey held on tight.

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year. Hoping that 2021 and all the years after bless you with everything you’re wanting in your life. When times get tough, you can always come back here and read Dacey stories :) 
> 
> Love you!  
> Twigg


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